Adam J. Burgasser, Ph.D.	[curriculum vita]

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Current Position	Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005-present
Research Interests	Very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, L and T dwarfs, optical/near-infrared spectroscopy, magnetic activity, stellar/substellar multiplicity, high-resolution imaging, near-infrared instrumentation
Professional Preparation	Ph.D. (Physics, minor in Planetary Science), California Institute of Technology, 2001  Thesis title: The Discovery and Characterization of Methane Bearing Brown Dwarfs and the Definition of the T Spectral Class  Advisors: M. E. Brown and J. D. Kirkpatrick M.S. (Physics), California Institute of Technology, 1999 B.S. (Physics), UC San Diego, 1996 Honors with Highest Distinction, Summa Cum Laude
Appointments	Spitzer Postdoctoral Fellow, AMNH, 2004-2005 (M. Shara, faculty contact)    Discovery and Characterization of Metal-poor M, L and T Dwarfs Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA, 2001-2004 (I.S. McLean, faculty contact)    Empirical investigations of the physical properties of ultracool dwarfs via optical & near-infrared spectroscopy Research Scientist, 2MASS Rare Objects Team, 1998-2001 (M.E. Brown & J.D. Kirkpatrick, advisors)    Search and characterization of T dwarfs using 2MASS. Research Assistant, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997-1998 (R. Terrile, advisor)    NICMOS grism observations of Pluto/Charon. Research Student, Caltech Infrared Astrophysics Group, 1996-1997 (G. Neugebauer & B.T. Soifer, advisors)    NIRC imaging observations of VV 114. Research Scholar, Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, 1995-1996 (H.G. Smith, advisor)    Characterization of ultraluminous far-infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). Undergraduate Research Fellow (REU), UC San Diego Physics Department, 1995 (H. Kobrak, advisor)    Testing triggering systems for the KTeV project.
Teaching	Lecturer, 8.012: Physics I (Classical Mechanics) for Majors, 2006-2007 Lecturer, 8.972: Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs ,2007 Head Diving Coach, Caltech & UC San Diego (NCAA Division 3), 1996-2001
Thesis Advisees	Emily Levesque (senior undergraduate thesis, MIT) Jacqueline Faherty (graduate thesis, American Museum of Natural History)
Educational Outreach	Co-developer, L and T Dwarf Archives (with C. Gelino and J. D. Kirkpatrick) Co-developer, Very Low Mass Binaries Archive (with N. Siegler) Instructor, CFAO Akamai and Mainland Short Courses, 2004    Intense workshop on optics, astronomy and AO for university students starting CFAO's internship program Team Lead, KIDSAT (now ISS EarthKam), 1994-1996    NASA-sponsored program that allows middle school students to take photos of the Earth using a remotely operated digital camera mounted on the window of the Space Shuttle.Lead for the Mission Scheduling Team, member of Orbital Mechanics Team.
Research Collaborations	FIRE Spectrograph    R. Simcoe, A. J. Burgasser, R. Bernstein, B. Bigelow, C. McMurtry, J. Pipher, B. Forrest, & P. Schechter    Development and construction of a near-infrared echellette spectrograph for the Magellan Telescopes, funded by an NSF Major Research Initiative Grant (2006). Transiting Extrasolar Survey Satellite (TESS)    G. Ricker, R. Vanderspek, S. Seager, J. Winn, & J. Elliott (at MIT)    Development and construction of an optical imaging satellite to search for transiting extrasolar planets around the nearest stars. 2MASS Rare Objects Team    J. Davy Kirkpatrick, I. Neill Reid, John Gizis, Adam Burgasser, Kelle Cruz, Peter Allen, & Roc Cutri    Identification and investigation of low-mass stars and cool brown dwarfs identified in the 2MASS database. NIRSPEC Brown Dwarf Spectroscopic Survey (BDSS)    Ian McLean, Lisa Prato, Mark McGovern, J. Davy Kirkpatrick, Adam Burgasser, Emily Rice & Sungsoo Kim    Near-infrared spectroscopic survey of late-M, L, and T dwarfs using Keck NIRSPEC.
Community Service	Member, Spitzer Space Telescope Allocation Committee member, Cycle 5, 2008 Member, Hubble Space Telescope Allocation Committee member, Cycles 15-16, 2006-2007 Member, NOAO Telescope Allocation Committee member, 2004-2007 (Panel Leader 2004) Galactic Science Panel Leader, Spitzer Warm Mission Workshop, 2007 International Representative, Australian Telescope Users Committee, 2004 Journal Referee: AJ, A&A, ApJ, MNRAS, Nature Physics, PASP
Selected Publications	Clouds, Gravity and Metallicity in Blue L Dwarfs: The Case of 2MASS J11263991-5003550. 2008, Astrophys. J., in press Burgasser, AJ, Looper, DL, Kirkpatrick, JD, Cruz, KL, & Swift, BJ Binaries and the L Dwarf/T Dwarf Transition. 2007, Astrophys. J., 659, 655-674 Burgasser, AJ Discovery of a Very Young Field L Dwarf, 2MASS J01415823-4633574. 2006, Astrophys. J., 639, 1120-1128 Kirkpatrick, JD, Barman, TS, Burgasser, AJ, McGovern, MR, McLean, IS, Tinney, CG, & Lowrance, PJ A Method for Determining the Physical Properties of the Coldest Known Brown Dwarfs. 2006, Astrophys. J., 639, 1095-1113 Burgasser, AJ, Burrows, A, & Kirkpatrick, JD Quiescent Radio Emission from Southern Late-type M Dwarfs and a Spectacular Radio Flare from the M8 Dwarf DENIS 1048-3956. 2005, Astrophys. J., 626, 486-497 Burgasser, AJ & Putman, ME T Dwarfs and the Substellar Mass Function. I. Monte Carlo Simulations 2004, Astrophys. J. Supp., 155, 191 Burgasser, AJ The First Substellar Subdwarf? Discovery of a Metal-poor L Dwarf with Halo Kinematics 2003, Astrophys. J., 592, 1186 Burgasser, AJ, Kirkpatrick, JD, Burrows, A, Liebert, J, Reid, IN, Gizis, JE, McGovern, MR, Prato, L, & McLean, IS. Evidence of Cloud Disruption in the L/T Dwarf Transition 2002, Astrophys. J. Letters, 571, L151 Burgasser, AJ, Marley, MS, Ackerman, AS, Saumon, D, Lodders, K, Dahn, CC, Harris, HC, & Kirkpatrick, JD. The Spectra of T Dwarfs. I. Near-Infrared Data and Spectral Classification 2002, Astrophys. J., 564, 421 Burgasser, AJ, Kirkpatrick, JD, Brown, ME, Reid, IN, Burrows, A, Liebert, J, Matthews, K, Gizis, JE, Dahn, CC, Monet, DG, Cutri, RM, & Skrutskie, MF. Discovery of Four Field Methane (T-Type) Dwarfs with the Two Micron All-Sky Survey 1999, Astrophys. J. Letters, 522, L65 Burgasser, AJ, Kirkpatrick, JD, Brown, ME, Reid, IN, Gizis, JE, Dahn, CC, Monet, DG, Beichman, CA, Liebert, J, Cutri, RM, & Skrutskie, MF. See my bibliography for a complete listing.
Selected Honors	Spitzer Postdoctoral Fellowship, NASA/Spitzer Science Center, 2004-2005 Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship, NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute, 2001-2004 NCAA Top 8 Scholar Athlete Award, 1997 John Holmes Malmberg Memorial Award for Physics, UC San Diego, 1996 NCAA Postgraduate Fellowship, UC San Diego, 1996 NACDA Pre-Games Post-Graduate Fellowship, UC San Diego, 1996 UC San Diego Research Scholar, 1995-1996 California Space Institute Fellowship, UC San Diego, 1995 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Fellowship, UC San Diego, 1995 UC Regents Scholar, UC San Diego, 1992-1996
Contact Information	Mail:    Massachusetts Institute of Technology    Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research    77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 37-664B    Cambridge, MA 02144, USA Telephone:    Office: 1 (617) 452-5113    Fax: 1 (617) 253-9798 Email:     ajb[at]mit[dot]edu Webpage:    http://web.mit.edu/~ajb/www

Last updated 19 November 2007