Undergraduate Research
Our department provides a wealth of opportunities for undergraduate students to engage in research, enhancing their educational experience and preparing them for future careers in astronomy and beyond. Students can participate in diverse research projects alongside faculty members, gaining hands-on experience in cutting-edge areas from exoplanets to galactic dynamics (see research areas).
Additionally, the department offers the chance to undertake Honors projects, in which students can dive deeper into topics of personal interest. These projects have covered a wide array of subjects, including stellar evolution and the impact of cosmic events on planetary systems. The list of past Honors projects below showcases the creativity of UMD students, their ability to conduct independent research, and the meaningful contributions they have made to the field.
Students with an interest in performing research, either independently or in conjunction with faculty and graduate students, should contact Undergraduate Astronomy Advisor, Dr. Melissa Hayes-Gehrke. Other astronomy opportunities may be available through the UMD Office of Undergraduate Research.
Honors Research Projects
Listed here are the Honors research projects completed by Astronomy undergraduates over the years. Most of their projects were coordinated through the resources presented at UMD Astronomy: Undergraduate Research.
| Title | Student | Advisor(s) | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| On the meaning of dynamical time in dark matter halos | Wenxi Wu | Benedikt Diemer | 2025 |
| Exoplanetary Condensation Curves: Exploring the Effects of C:O Ratio and Metallicity | Jacob Weglarz | Eliza Kempton | 2025 |
| Polarizations of the Beta-Pictoris Debris Disk | Hannah Suresh | Ludmilla Kolokolova | 2025 |
| Exploring the Early Formation of Supermassive Black Holes | Mackenzie Samartzis | Cole Miller | 2025 |
| AXIS Observation Plan Optimization Using Weighting and Random Numbers | Joshua Robbins | Chris Reynolds | 2025 |
| Reclassifying Sources as Young Stellar Objects in the c2d Database | Nardos Mekonnen | Tracy Huard and Lee Mundy | 2025 |
| Analysis of the Supermassive Black Hole Spin Population | Brooke Kaluzienski | Cole Miller | 2025 |
| Revisiting Constraints on Primordial Black Holes from Highly Magnified Stars | Thomas Griffith | Cole Miller | 2025 |
| Coupling of cloudn microphysical model to MITgcm/DISORT for ultra-hot Jupiter TOI-1431b | Julia Cottingham | Tad Komacek | 2025 |
| Not All Sub-Neptune Exoplanets Have Magma Oceans | Bodie Breza | Eliza Kempton | 2025 |
| Extinction from Molecular Clouds in the Milky Way | Sarah Blaufuss | Tracy Huard and Lee Mundy | 2025 |
| Distinguishing Orbiting and Infalling Dark Matter Particles with Machine Learning | Ze'ev Vladimir | Benedikt Diemer | 2024 |
| Turbulent Motion in Molecular Cores: Perseus B1, L1451, L1455 | Maureen Clark | Lee Mundy | 2024 |
| Qualifying High Extinction Levels in Molecular Clouds by the Introduction of Spitzer IRAC Data | Nicholas Gobs | Tracy Huard and Lee Mundy | 2024 |
| Examining Self-Consistent Hot Jupiter Emission Spectra Models With and Without Aerosols | Madeline Lessard | Eliza Kempton | 2024 |
| Using the JWST NIRCam and MIRI Imagers to Constrain Dust Properties in Star-Forming Galaxies | Steven Shockley | Sylvain Veilleux | 2024 |
| Investigating Tropical Cyclones on TRAPPIST-1e: Dependence on Atmospheric CO2 | Cole Smith | Tad Komacek | 2024 |
| Star-Forming Regions and Young Stellar Objects within Dark Molecular Cloud L723 | Lacey Allee-Press | Lee Mundy | 2023 |
| The Kinematic and Dynamical Propertices of HBC 494's Wide-Angle Outflows | Austen Fourkas | Lee Mundy | 2023 |
| Star Cluster Formation and Survival in the First Galaxies | Fred Garcia | Massimo Ricotti | 2023 |
| The Coupled Impacts of Atmospheric Composition and Obliquity on the Climate Dynamics of TRAPPIST-1e | Tobi Hammond | Tad Komacek | 2023 |
| Bimodal Star Formation in Simulations of Strongly Magnetized Giant Molecular Clouds | Ronan Hix | Massimo Ricotti | 2023 |
| Dust Extinction in the Cosmic Cliffs: Insights from Early-Release JWST Observations | Shreya Karthikeyan | Tracy Huard and Lee Mundy | 2023 |
| Towards Globular Cluster Formation Channel Constraints from Tidal Disruptions by Intermediate-Mass Black Holes | Nicholas Magnelli | Cole Miller | 2023 |
| A Relationship between Extinction and Far-Infrared Optical Depth in Molecular Clouds | Rachel Weller | Lee Mundy | 2023 |
| Analysis of Assumptions and Calculations Relevant to Binary Black Holes in AGN Accretion Disks | Kate Futrowsky | Cole Miller | 2022 |
| Eight Outbursting Event of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke | Ky Hyunh | Michael Kelley, Jessica Sunshine | 2022 |
| Climatological Effects on Transit Spectroscopic Measurements of TRAPPIST-13 | Yoav Rotman | Thaddeus Komacek | 2022 |
| Characterizing HII Regions of the Small Magellanic Cloud | Daniel Stapleton | Elizabeth Tarantino, Alberto Bolatto | 2022 |
| Analyzing Two SEP Events Using Proton Flux Data from STEREO A/B, SOHO, and SolO | Lucy Wilkerson | Surja Sharma | 2022 |
| Finding the Masses of Molecular Clouds Using Herschel Emission Data | Lea Feuillet | Lee Mundy | 2021 |
| Ghostly Halos: The Need to Look Deeper | Kathleen Hamilton-Campos | Massimo Ricotti | 2021 |
| Simulating the propagation speed of a seismic signal through a granular medium | Katie Hancock | Derek Richardson | 2021 |
| Joint Parameter Inference Derivation from Segmented Inference from Galactic Binary LISA Data Analysis | Benjamin Johanson | John Baker, Cole Miller | 2021 |
| Polarimetric Analysis of Comets 2I/Borisov and C/2011 KP36 (Spacewatch) | Renee Kirk | Ludmilla Kolokolova, Jessica Sunshine | 2021 |
| A Novel Comb Filter for Type Ia and IIp Supernovae Photometric Redshift Estimations | Scott Martin | Drake Deming | 2021 |
| Exploring the Formation of Primordial Black Holes Using the Fast Fourier Transform and Two Point Correlation Function | Valentina Petroni | Massimo Ricotti | 2021 |
| Microphysics of Localized Structures in the Magnetosphere from Multispacecraft MMS Data | Elizabeth Wraback | Jason Shuster, Surja Sharma | 2021 |
| The Detectability of Plausible Atmospheric and Surface Compositions of LHS 3884b with JWST | Emily Whittaker | Malik Matej, Eliza Kempton | 2021 |
| Multi-Method Investigation of Small-Mass Meteors Using Optical, Radar, and Spectral Observations | Emma Mirizio | Robert Michell, Derek Richardson | 2020 |
| Methodologies for Analyzing and Evaluating Models of Quasar Variability | Jacob Golomb | Cole Miller | 2020 |
| Signatures of Clouds in Hot Jupiter Atmospheres: Modeled High Resolution Emission Spectra from 3D General Circulation Models | Caleb Harada | Eliza Kempton | 2020 |
| Investigations into Blazar Flare Mechanics | Claire Hinrichs | Richard Mushotzky | 2020 |
| Calibration and Data Simulation for RIMAS, the Rapid Infrared Imager-Spectrometer | Jillian Kunze | Alexander Kutyrev, Sylvain Veilleux | 2020 |
| Exploring Spatial and Temporal changes in Hydration on the Lunar South Pole | Kristen Laferriere | Lori Feaga, Jessica Sunshine | 2020 |
| Probing Hot Jupiter Temperatures with TESS Photometry | Ryan Morris | Drake Deming | 2020 |
| Cross-Dispersion System for an Integrated Photonic Spectrograph | Meghna Sitaram | Sylvain Veilleux | 2020 |
| Developing a New Software Pipeline to Spectroscopically Classify BCUs | Ryan Skoletsky | Roopesh Ojha, Richard Mushotzky | 2020 |
| Using Granular Dynamics Simulations with Cohesion to Create Fluffy Regolith | Matthew Wilkin | Derek Richardson | 2020 |
| K2 and Spitzer Transits of Four Super-Earth Exoplanets | Alison Duck | Drake Deming | 2019 |
| Dust Abundances in Molecular Clouds | Benjamin Flaggs | Tracy Huard, Lee Mundy | 2019 |
| K2 Legacy Data: Killing Planet Candidates with EVEREST and Searching for Candidates with Halo Photometry | Michael Greklek-McKeon | Drake Deming | 2019 |
| A New Method of Fitting Extinction Toward Molecular Clouds | Kevin Hall | Lee Mundy | 2019 |
| Search for Orbital Decay in WASP-126b and WASP-18b | Justin Harrell | Drake Deming | 2019 |
| Ionization Mechanisms in Quasar Outflows | Jason Hinkle | Sylvain Veilleux | 2019 |
| Mapping Water-Ice and Silicates Using Broadband Photometry of Background Stars | Melanie Rowland | Tracy Huard, Lee Mundy | 2019 |
| Exploring Star Formation in Five Compact Cores | Emma Schwartzman | Lee Mundy, Isabelle Joncour | 2019 |
| Distribution of Exoplanet Radii Determined from TESS Data | Edward Williams | Drake Deming | 2019 |
| Tidal Stresses in the 2029 Close Encounter with Earth of Proposed APEX Mission Target 99942 Apophis | Joseph DeMartini | Derek Richardson | 2018 |
| Removing Terrestrial Alteration from Meteorite Sample GRA 06128/9 Via Chemical Leaching | Anna Engle | Jessica Sunshine | 2018 |
| Assessing the Quality of Grid-Based Gravitational Fields | Mark Hubbert | Doug Hamilton | 2018 |
| Effects of Anisotropic Viscosity on the Evolution of AGN Bubbles in Galaxy Clusters | Matthew Kingsland | Karen Yang, Richard Mushotzky | 2018 |
| Asteroids Under Stress: Constraining Strength and Evolution Through Spin-Up Simulations | Andrew Leisner | Derek Richardson | 2018 |
| Exploring Shear-free Ringlet Formation with Direction Simulations of Saturn's A and B Rings | Yuxi (Lucy) Lu | Derek Richardson | 2018 |
| Finding Escaper YSOs in the Serpens Cloud Complex | Roxana Popescu | Isabelle Joncour, Lee Mundy | 2018 |
| Prospects for Ground-Based Detection and Follow-Up of TESS-Discovered Planets | Matthew Varakian | Drake Deming | 2018 |
| Sky Localization, Electromagnetic Follow-up, and Cosmology for Third Generation Gravitational Wave Detectors | Shreya Anand | Leo Singer, Cole Miller | 2017 |
| Suppression of AGN-Driven Turbulence by Magnetic Fields in a Magnetohydrodynamic Model of the Intracluster Medium | Christopher Bambic | Cole Miller, Chris Reynolds | 2017 |
| Characterizing Hot Jupiters with Secondary Eclipses: A Statistical Study Using Pixel-Level Decorrelation | Emily Garhart | Drake Deming | 2017 |
| Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter Candidates: A Numerical Model of Primordial Black Hole Binary Formation and Evolution | Victor Meszaros | Massimo Ricotti | 2017 |
| Heating in Intracluster Gas via Gravity Waves | Xiao (Jennifer) Liang | Chris Reynolds | 2016 |
| Confirming Variability in the Secondary Eclipse Depth of the Super-Earth 55 Cnc e | Patrick Tamburo | Drake Deming | 2016 |
| Library of Tools for Manipulating 3-D Grids Including the Production of Numerically Determined Gravitational Fields | Harry Arnold | Doug Hamilton | 2015 |
| Tracing Exotic Photon Trajectories around Black Holes | Allison Bostrom | Cole Miller, Chris Reynolds | 2015 |
| Tracing Dense Gas in NGC 1333 | Kenneth Koester | Lee Mundy | 2015 |
| Testing and Exploration of the Rotating Neutron Star Code | Justin Tervala | Cole Miller | 2015 |
| Assessing Flat Field Quality at the University of Maryland Observatory | David Blankenship | Andrew Harris | 2014 |
| Global Variations in Lunar Highlands Composition | Lily Mannoia | Jessica Sunshine | 2014 |
| The Formation of the Kepler-36 Planetary System | Thomas Rimlinger | Doug Hamilton and Derek Richardson | 2014 |
| Characterizing Star Formation in the Perseus Cloud | Lauren Bittle | Lee Mundy | 2013 |
| Numerical Studies of Stochastically Perturbed Accretion Discs | Philip Cowperthwaite | Chris Reynolds | 2013 |
| Formation Scenarios and Evolution of the Milky Way's Old Globular Cluster Population | Harley Katz | Massimo Ricotti | 2013 |
| The Modeling and Observation of Exoplanetary Transits | Nolan Matthews | Drake Deming | 2013 |
| Neutron Star Radii: Theoretical Tests of Frequency-Dependent Light curve Analysis | Bryan Holler | Cole Miller | 2012 |
| Numerical Modeling of Rotational Fission of Contact Binary Asteroids | Brett M. Morris | Derek Richardson | 2012 |
| Modes of Two Planet Migration via Planetesimal Scattering using HNBody | James Keane | Douglas P. Hamilton | 2011 |
| Tracking Energetic Particle Trajectories in Simulations of Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection | Kalman Knizhnik | Massimo Ricotti | 2011 |
| Tilting Uranus-Toward a Collisionless Model | Lauren Woolsey | Douglas P. Hamilton | 2011 |
| Measurements of the Mass and Radius of the Neutron Star 4U 1636-53 Using Millisecond Brightness Oscillations during Thermonuclear X-ray Bursts | Ryan Abrahams | Cole Miller | 2010 |
| Mass and Radius Constraints of 4U 1728-34 | Brian Prager | Cole Miller | 2010 |
| Mass Segregation around Supermassive Black Holes | Ashley King | Cole Miller | 2009 |
| Resonant Origins for Pluto's High Inclination | Curran Muhlberger | Douglas P. Hamilton | 2008 |
| Calibration of the Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation Using Gas Dominated Galaxies | David V. Stark | Stacy McGaugh | 2008 |
| A Chandra X-ray Study of NGC 5775 | Diana Hanson | Chris Reynolds | 2007 |
| Dynamics of Uranian Dust Sheets | Alexandra Lockwood | Douglas P. Hamilton | 2007 |
| Searching for Low Surface Brightness Galaxies | Daniel Schwartz | Stacy McGaugh | 2007 |
| Magnetorotational Instability: Theory and Experiment in Accretion Disk Dynamics | Barbara Brawn | Eve Ostriker | 2006 |
| CCD Photometry of the Globular Cluster ESO452-SC11 | Alexis Cornish | Suchitra Balachandran | 2006 |
| Numerical Experiments with Rubble Piles: Critical Breakup Densities for Oblate Spheroids | Pradeep Elankumaran | Douglas Hamilton | 2006 |
| Dust Transfer Between Earth and Mars | Paul Ries | Douglas Hamilton | 2005 |
| A Computational Study of Core Rotation in Globular Clusters | Mia Bovill | Cole Miller | 2004 |
| Optical Monitoring of Blazars MRK421 and PKS1406-076 | Jessica Ennis | Christopher Reynolds | 2004 |
| An Analytical Approach to the Distribution of Oort Cloud-Originating Comets | Jeremy Miller | Douglas Hamilton | 2004 |
| The Orbital Evolution of the Galilean Satellites | Kaveh Pahlevan | Douglas Hamilton | 2004 |
| Determination of the Density of Jupiter's Moon Amalthea | Robyn Sanderson | Douglas Hamilton | 2003 |
| Interaction of a Planar Shock Wave with Cloud Material in the Interstellar Medium | Eric Schindhelm | James Stone, Douglas Hamilton, Cole Miller | 2003 |
| Orbital Dynamics of Asteroidal Dust | Patrick Taylor | Douglas Hamilton | 2003 |
| Undergraduate Comprehension of Cosmology by Gender and Informal Education | Elizabeth Miller | Grace Deming | 2002 |
| Dynamical Evolution of the Jovian Satellite System | Amada Proctor | Douglas Hamilton | 2002 |
| A Superstar Cluster in NGC 3690 | Stacy Teng | Lee Mundy | 2002 |
| Cosmological Constraints from Rotation Curves of Low Surface Brightness Galaxies | Michael Barker | Stacy McGaugh | 2001 |
| Optical and Far-Ultraviolet Morphology of Galaxies | Melanie Freed | Sylvain Veilleux | 2001 |
| Origins of the Terrestrial Planets: Numerical Simulations to Explore Planetary Formation | Amir Caspi | Douglas Hamilton | 2000 |
| Seeking Evidence of Frame Dragging in Active Galactic Nuclei | Sheri Calvo | Wan Chen | 1999 |
| Emission Line Observations of Comet Hale-Bopp | Nathaniel Doane | Michael A'Hearn | 1999 |
| Dusty Rings around Saturn | Linda Harden | Douglas Hamilton | 1998 |
| Modeling of CO Line Emission from Circumstellar Disks | Stephanie McLaughlin | Lee Mundy | 1998 |
| An Infrared Study of Saturn's Rings during the Ring Plane Crossing of 1995 | Lori Lanier | Douglas Hamilton | 1997 |