Benjamin Hord's Astronomy Department Home Page


Benjamin Hord Name:Benjamin Hord
Title:Graduate Student
Room:PSC 1229
Phone:
E-mail:benhord@umd.edu

Ben Hord is a third-year graduate student studying exoplanets. His research interests include the dynamical and formation history of hot Jupiters, exoplanet systems with unique architectures, the discovery, vetting, and validation of new exoplanets, as well as photometric light curve modeling and simulations. Ben is particularly interested in the intersection between Big Data and Astronomy and how large data sets can be used to answer astrophysical questions.

His departmental advisor is Professor Eliza Kempton and his research advisor is Dr. Knicole Colon at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Ben currently splits his time between the UMD College Park campus and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in nearby Greenbelt.

Ben has experience teaching as a TA for Astronomy 101 and with public outreach, including hosting Observatory Nights at the nearby UMD Observatory, giving research talks to local non-scientists, and more. His notable graduate awards include the Dean's Fellowship, Wentzel Fellowship, and NASA FINESST Award. He earned a BA in Astrophysics and a BA in History from Columbia University in 2018 and an MS in Astronomy from UMD in 2020. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Astronomy.
ADS Listing for Benjamin Hord
Astro-PH Listing for Benjamin Hord