Postdoctoral Researcher
rbowru@umich.edu
Office Information:
University of Michigan
Department of Astronomy
1085 S. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Astronomy;
Instrumentation;
Stars & Exoplanets
About
Rachel Bowens-Rubin is a postdoctoral researcher who studies exoplanets. Rachel completed their undergraduate degree in Physics & Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science at MIT and their PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. They worked as a mechanical engineer with the BICEP/Keck Telescope Array from 2014 - 2016 and served as the winterover Lab Technician at McMurdo Station Antarctica in 2018. For their dissertation research, they developed adaptive optics instrumentation and led high-contrast imaging surveys using the W. M. Keck Observatory as a member of the UCSC Lab for Adaptive Optics. Rachel is currently leading a JWST direct imaging program with the goal of discovering exoplanets orbiting 6 of our nearest neighbors (GO 6122: Cool Kids on the Block).
