I specialize in gravitational dynamics and the growth of structure in the Universe. My research targets these questions:

• What are the origins of the cosmic structure that manifests today in the form of galaxies?
• What is the dark matter that comprises most of this structure?

I approach these questions by thinking about dark matter systems much smaller than galaxies. These systems carry a memory of the initial conditions for structure formation, which are connected to the identity of the dark matter and the physics of the early Universe. However, they are difficult to detect, because they are too small to host any visible matter. Dark matter systems much smaller than galaxies are also difficult to model, because systems of very different size cannot easily be represented in the same simulation. My research uses a mix of numerical simulations and mathematical models to address these problems.

I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow with the Carnegie Theoretical Astrophysics Center. Previously, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, and before that, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (advisor Adrienne Erickcek).