Gregory Simonian's Web Space

Intro

Welcome to my home page! Feel free to click around! The photo in the background is of the Mayall 4-meter telescope on Kitt Peak as seen from the MDM observatory. The 2.1-meter telescope and the WIYN 3.5-meter telescopes can be seen in the background.

For a quick summary of what I've done, see my CV

The photo above was taken in Resurrection Bay, Alaska, with the Kenai Mountains in the background. Resurrection Bay has tides which vary around 13 feet. This photo was also taken near the solstice, when the sky never got dark.

You can learn more about my teaching and research!

Education

My current teaching philosophy involves two main prongs: creating an inclusive and interactive classroom, as well as providing students with holistic support so they can mature academically to achieve their personal and professional goals.

I attempt to accomplish these goals using two main practices. The first is "active learning" which incorporates problem-solving during class so students can get immediate feedback on how they apply physics concepts to problem-solving. I currently accomplish this by taking longer, more challenging problems and breaking them into parts during class, with students working through the individual parts and sharing their results on whiteboards. I also make use of the philosophy of "intrusive advising", as discussed in the AIP TEAM-UP report to quickly identify students who are in danger of falling behind in the class and discussing with them actions they can take to improve.

I am extremely interested in incorporating technology into my teaching style since students can get immediate feedback on their knowledge. I am also on the lookout for additional online resources to engage students and encourage digital literacy.

I am extremely grateful to the mentorship of Dr. Alice Hawthorne-Allen, whose experience making physics and astronomy accessible yet rigorous, strongly influenced my attitude toward student engagement, and also trained me to be an empathic instructor. I am also grateful to my Ph.D advisor, Dr. Marc Pinsonneault, who introduced me to active learning and group discussions in the classroom context. I am also grateful to Dr. Colin Wallace, who shared the active learning technique I currently use in physics at a workshop hosted by the Faculty Teaching Institute.

Research

My current research focuses on leveraging new, large datasets to understand how stars rotate, and multiple-star systems. I am particularly interested in using rotation data, such as from the Kepler satellite and the recently launched TESS satellite to understand binary systems.

Based on prevous studies between age and the vertical scale height, it's believed that all the stars in the field should be older than 500 million years. Magnetic braking in single-star angular momentum evolution models predict a lack of rapid rotators which isn't seen in the Kepler rotation data. I am interested in whether this population of observed rapid rotators are not single stars, but are tidally-synchronized binaries, where the rotation period is forced to equal the orbital period.

I'm interested in tidally-synchronized binaries because they are a precursor population to other exotic types of objects. The tightest of tidally-synchronized binaries can merge over their lifetimes, forming blue stragglers. If they do not interact on the main sequence, they will certainly interact when one evolves onto the giant branch, potentially forming cataclysmic variables or even Type Ia supernovae!

As an astronomer, I'm extremely concerned about climate change; we don't have a Planet B. I am a member of Astronomers for Planet Earth.

I am currently a volunteer for the Citizens' Climate Lobby, an organization dedicated to making the US a climate leader by enacting a federal carbon fee and dividend policy.

I am currently a liaison for the 17th district of Illinois, setting up meetings between our Congressman and constituents concerned about cliamte change.

About Me

I originally hail from sunny (and light polluted) Southern California. It was during my childhood in Los Angeles where I developed a great appreciation for science and the scientific method. While I maintained a broad interest in all sciences, I grew particularly passionate about astronomy because it had applications to many other branches of science.

After graduating high school, I attended college at Caltech, where I majored in astronomy and worked during the summers on identifying and characterizing Cataclysmic Variables discovered in the Palomar Transient Factory. This early work with the CV Zoo formed the basis of my current research interests in understanding the various phenomena caused by binary interactions

I pursued my Ph.D at The Ohio State University where I studied under Prof. Marc Pinsonneault on stellar rotation and binarity. While at Ohio State, I also became highly active in the Armenian Students Association, an organization serving as a community for those with ties or interests in Armenian Culture, serving as president and treasurer for two years each. It's also during my time at Ohio State that I grew interested in increasing diversity in astronomy and became aware of massive disparaties in access to science education.

I am currently an Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Concord University teaching introductory physics lab as well as astronomy. I have also designed conceptual courses for elementary education majors in the following physical sciences: Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, and Geology.

i = 0;

while (!deck.isInOrder()) {
    print 'Iteration ' + i;
    deck.shuffle();
    i++;
}

print 'It took ' + i + ' iterations to sort the deck.';