Laura E. Trouille

Contact Information

Laura E. Trouille
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Astronomy
475 N. Charter St.
Madison, WI 53706

Office: 5533 Sterling Hall
Email: trouille [at] astro.wisc.edu

 

 

Follow this link for a copy of my CV, photos, and more entertaining information.

Follow this link for the Galaxies Lunch Schedule.

About me

I am a fifth-year graduate student in Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I collaborate with Dr. Amy Barger. I am currently working on my thesis project entitled "The X-ray and Optical Properties of Obscured versus Unobscured AGNs and their Dependence on Environment". I will be applying for post-doctoral positions in the Fall of 2009.

Abstract: Chandra hard X-ray surveys have uncovered a substantial population of obscured AGN that were not identified in optical and soft X-ray surveys, revolutionizing our understanding of accretion onto supermassive black holes. One of the major goals of current research in the field is to understand the nature of the obscuration and its relation to X-ray and optical spectral class. I propose to use deep Chandra X-ray images covering 1.2 square degrees, coupled with extensive high-quality optical spectroscopy, to examine the optical and X-ray spectral characteristics of AGN. I will then construct and compare luminosity functions for various classification schemes and assess thier impact on the black hole energy density production rates. In a related project, I will investigate the dependence of AGNs on their environment.

Mentoring

This year I am working with UW-Madison undergraduate, Thomas Finzell, on reducing Subaru Suprime-Cam data using a 10-node cluster and pvmloop PERL software.

During my 3rd and 4th years, I worked with two UW-Madison undergraduate students, Abby Cariker and Tim Larsen. Abby and I used near-infrared ULBCam images of 2 square degrees of sky to search for high-redshift galaxies. With Tim, I worked on a project to constrain the mass assembly history of the Universe at low redshift using H-band selected galaxies followed up with HYDRA WIYN spectroscopic observations. We then combined this data set with a high redshift Spitzer-selected sample to study the mass assembly history across cosmic time.

Education

As an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, I majored in Physics and minored in Astronomy. I worked with Dr. Brian Chaboyer throughout the first two years on a WISP (Women in Science) project to determine the age of Globular Cluster Palomar 13. I then went to the Paris Observatory in Meudon during the Spring of 2002 to work with Dr. Jean-Paul Zahn on a project dealing with the solar tachocline. My undergraduate thesis project was carried out with Dr. Eliot Young (SWrI) and was entitled "Titan- From an Impervious Cloud Cover to an Explorable World: Creation and Application of a 3-D Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer Code".

Teaching

In the Spring of 2006, I TAed for the Intro to Astronomy, Astro 103 course, taught by Dr. Matt Haffner.

I've also taken two CIRTL Delta Courses (Instructional Materials Development and College Classroom) as well as the DELTA mentoring seminar. I hope to teach the summer Astro103 course and through a related internship, obtain a DELTA teaching certificate.

I also had the chance to participate in the Santa Cruz Inquiry-Based Learning PDW in Maui in the fall of 2005 in order to learn how to better facilitate inquiry-based activities.

Outreach

With Emily Freeland, Laura Chomiuk, Tommy Nelson, Matt Povich, and graduate student volunteers (and eventually undergrads as well), we run a weekly after-school astronomy program at the UW-Madison Space Place for middle-schoolers from two Boys & Girls Clubs in Madison. The program is awesome!

Also, I help run the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) program every year in which middle-school girls participate in a number of different activities in the various science departments here on the UW-Madison campus. This past year I created an online astronomical detective story click here for this purpose.

As part of the perks of being a graduate student at UW, I also run observing nights at the old Washburn observatory on campus as well as at various Wisconsin State Parks throughout the summer as part of the UW-Astronomy UiTP (Universe in the Park) program.