NICHOLASROYMACDONALD Curriculum Vitae

contact information

email nmacdona@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de website http://www3.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/staff/nmacdonald office Max-Planck-Institut fur¨ Radioastronomie (E2.14) Auf dem Hugel¨ 69 Bonn, Germany phone +49 228 525 424

academic positions

Staff Scientist 2021-present Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn - Germany

Postdoctoral 2017-2021 Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn - Germany Researcher Advisors: Prof. Anton Zensus & Prof. Eduardo Ros

education

Ph.D. in 2010-2016 Boston University, United States of America Astrophysics Thesis Title: Order & Disorder: A Study of the Flaring Properties and Polarized Emission of Blazars Advisors: Prof. Alan Marscher & Dr. Svetlana Jorstad

M.Sc. in 2006-2008 Saint Mary‘s University, Canada Astrophysics Thesis Title: Bridging the Gap: Synthetic Observations of Numerical Simulations of Extragalactic Jets Advisor: Prof. David Clarke

B.Sc. in 2002-2006 Saint Mary‘s University, Canada Astrophysics with Thesis Title: Hydrodynamic Simulations of Spiral Density Waves Honours Advisors: Prof. David Clarke & Dr. Joseph Hahn

Foundation Year 2001-2002 University of King‘s College, Canada Program One year program in great works of philosophy, literature, history and art.

scholarships and awards

Co-recipient of Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics to the EHT (2020)

Boston University Research Assistant Fellowship (2012-2016)

NSERC Post-graduate Scholarship Award - Ph.D. (2010-2012)

NSERC Post-graduate Scholarship Award - M.Sc. (2006-2008)

Saint Mary‘s University Graduate Research Award (2006-2008)

Father Burke-Gaffney Memorial Scholarship (2006-2008)

John Despard de Blois Scholarship (2006-2007)

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award - B.Sc. (2005) publication list

First-Author from electrons to janskys: full stokes polarized radiative transfer in Refereed 3d relativistic particle-in-cell jet simulations Publications MacDonald N. R. &Nishikawa K. -I. 2021 A&A 653 A10

faraday conversion in turbulent blazar jets MacDonald N. R. &Marscher A. P. 2018 ApJ 862, 58

”orphan” gamma-ray flares and stationary sheaths of blazar jets MacDonald N. R.,Jorstad S. G., & Marscher A. P. 2017 ApJ 850, 87

through the ring of fire: gamma-ray variability in blazars by a moving plasmoid passing a local source of seed photons MacDonald N. R.,Marscher A. P., Jorstad S. G., & Joshi M. 2015 ApJ 804, 111

Co-Author ray-tracing in relativistic jet simulations: a polarimetric study of Refereed magnetic field morphology and electron scaling relations Publications Kramer J. A. & MacDonald N. R. 2021 A&A in press

repeated pattern of gamma-ray flares in the light curve of the blazar 3c 279 Blinov D., Jorstad S. G., Larionov V. M., MacDonald N. R., and 9 additional authors 2021 MNRAS 505 4616

the jet collimation profile at high resolution in bl lacertae Casadio C., MacDonald N. R.,Boccardi B., Jorstad S. G., Marscher A. P., Krichbaum T. P., and 11 additional authors 2021 A&A 649 A153

rapid particle acceleration due to recollimation shocks and turbulent magnetic fields in injected jets with helical magnetic fields Nishikawa K., Mizuno Y., Gomez´ J. L., Dut¸an I., Niemiec J., Kobzar, O., MacDonald N. R.,Meli A., Pohl M., & Hirotani K. 2020 MNRAS 493, 2652

a parsec-scale wobbling jet in the high-synchrotron peaked blazar pg 1553+113 Lico R., Liu J., Giroletti M., Gomez´ J. L., Piner B. G., MacDonald N. R., D’Ammando F., & Fuentes A. 2020 A&A 634 A87

the magnetic field structure in cta 102 from high resolution mm-vlbi observations during the flaring state in 2016-2017 Casadio C., Marscher A. P., Jorstad S. G., Blinov D. A., MacDonald N. R., Krichbaum T. P., and 11 additional authors 2019 A&A 622, A158

spatially resolved origin of mm-wave linear polarization in the nuclear region of 3c 84 Kim J. -Y., Krichbaum T. P., Marscher A. P., Jorstad S. G., Agudo I., Thum C., Hodgson J. A., MacDonald N. R.,Ros E., and 6 additional authors 2019 A&A 622, A196

optical emission and particle acceleration in a quasi-stationary component in the jet of oj 287 Mahito S., Jorstad S. G., Marscher A. P., Bala V., Joshi M., MacDonald N. R., Malmrose M. P., Larionov V. M., and 7 additional authors 2017 ApJ 864, 67 kinematics of parsec-scale jets of gamma-ray blazars at 43 ghz within the vlba-bu-blazar program Jorstad S. G., Marscher A. P., Morozova D. A., 5 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 4 additional authors 2017 ApJ 846, 98

multiwavelength observations of a vhe gamma-ray flare from pks 1510-089 in 2015 Ahnen M.L., Ansoldi S., Antonelli L. A., 57 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 10 additional authors 2017 A&A 603, 29

the connection between the parsec-scale radio jet and gamma-ray flares in the blazar 1156+295 Ramakrishnan V., Leon´ -Tavares J., Rastorgueva-Foi E. A., Wiik K., Jorstad S. G., Marscher A. P., 19 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 7 additional authors 2014 MNRAS 445, 1636

a tight connection between gamma-ray outbursts and parsec-scale jet activity in the quasar 3c 454.3 Jorstad S. G., Marscher A. P., Smith P. S., Larionov V. M., Agudo I., Gurwell M., 23 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 15 additional authors 2013 ApJ 773, 147

rapid tev gamma-ray flaring of bl lacertae Arlen T., Aune T., Beilicke W., 68 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 15 additional authors 2013 ApJ 762, 92

multiwavelength variations of 3c 454.3 during the 2010 november to 2011 january outburst Wehrle A. E., Marscher A. P., Jorstad S. G., Gurwell M., Joshi M., MacDonald N. R.,Williamson K. E., Agudo I., & Grupe D. 2012 ApJ 758, 72

EHT Collaboration first m87 event horizon telescope results. i.the shadow of the Refereed supermassive black hole Publications Akiyama K., Alberdi A., Alef W., 106 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 236 additional authors 2019 ApJ 875, L1

first m87 event horizon telescope results. ii. array and instrumentation Akiyama K., Alberdi A., Alef W., 106 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 236 additional authors 2019 ApJ 875, L2

first m87 event horizon telescope results. iii. data processing and calibration Akiyama K., Alberdi A., Alef W., 106 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 236 additional authors 2019 ApJ 875, L3

first m87 event horizon telescope results. iv. imaging the central supermassive black hole Akiyama K., Alberdi A., Alef W., 106 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 236 additional authors 2019 ApJ 875, L4

first m87 event horizon telescope results. v. physical origin of the asymmetric ring Akiyama K., Alberdi A., Alef W., 106 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 236 additional authors 2019 ApJ 875, L5 first m87 event horizon telescope results. vi. the shadow and mass of the central black hole Akiyama K., Alberdi A., Alef W., 106 additional authors, MacDonald N. R., and 236 additional authors 2019 ApJ 875, L6

Reviews relativistic jet simulations of the weibel instability in the slab model & to cylindrical jets with helical magnetic fields Conference Nishikawa K., Mizuno Y., Gomez´ J.L., Dut¸an I., Meli A., Niemiec J., Kobzar Proceedings O., Pohl M., Sol H., MacDonald N. R.,&Hartmann D.H. Cosmic Plasmas and Electromagnetic Phenomena 2019 Galaxies 7, 29

circular polarization in turbulent blazar jets MacDonald N. R. Polarised Emission from Astrophysical Jets, Ierapetra, Greece 2017 Galaxies 5, 82

through the looking glass: faraday conversion in turbulent blazar jets MacDonald N. R. Blazars Through Sharp Multi-Wavelength Eyes, Malaga, Spain 2016 Galaxies 4, 50

relations between events in the millimeter-wave core and gamma-ray outbursts in blazar jets Marscher A. P., Jorstad S. G., Agudo I., MacDonald N. R.,&Scott T. Fermi & Jansky: Our Evolving Understanding of AGN

parsec-scale jet behavior of the quasar 3c 454.3 during the high gamma-ray states in 2009 and 2010 Jorstad S. G., Marscher A. P., Joshi M., MacDonald N. R.,Scott T., Williamson K. E., Smith P. S., Larionov V. M., Agudo I., & Gurwell M. Fermi & Jansky: Our Evolving Understanding of AGN

conference presentations

Contributed Talks full stokes polarized radiative transfer in 3d relativistic jet simulations: application of the tristan, pluto & radmc-3d codes MacDonald N. R. (1) Extra-Galactic Jets At All Scales, Heidelberg, Germany 2021 (online) (2) Multiwavelength Polarization of Blazar Jets - European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting 2020 (online)

jets, blobs, and circular polarization: using pluto to model time domain variability in blazars MacDonald N. R. The 3C Extragalactic Radio Sky: Legacy of the Third Cambridge Catalogue, Turin, Italy 2019

synthetic vlbi imaging of relativistic jet simulations: applying polarized radiative transfer through 3d rmhd and 3d pic jet calculations MacDonald N. R. A Centenary of Astrophysical Jets: Observation, Theory, and Future Prospects, SKA Global Headquarters, Jodrell Bank Observatory, United Kingdom 2019

non-horizon science with the event horizon telescope: using the eht & alma to peer deeper into blazars MacDonald N. R. Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Montreal, Canada 2019

vlbi location of the sites of high-energy emission production in agn MacDonald N. R. (on behalf of Zensus A.) 1st CTA Science Symposium, Bologna, Italy 2019 from electrons to janskys: comparing synthetic temz model light curves to high-cadence data from the polami and f-gamma monitoring programs MacDonald N. R. Monitoring the non-thermal Universe, Cochem, Germany 2018

from the micro to the macro - bridging the gap between the theory and observation of blazar jets MacDonald N. R. Half a Century of Blazars and Beyond, Turin, Italy 2018

”orphan” gamma-ray flares and stationary sheaths of blazar jets MacDonald N. R.,Jorstad S. G., & Marscher A. P. 7th International Fermi Symposium, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 2017

faraday conversion in turbulent blazar jets MacDonald N. R. &Marscher A. P. (1) New England Regional Quasar and AGN Meeting, Boston University 2017 (2) Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Edmonton, Canada 2017 (3) Polarised Emission from Astrophysical Jets, Ierapetra, Greece 2017 (4) When Brandeis Met Jansky, Brandeis University 2017

through the looking glass: faraday conversion in turbulent blazar jets MacDonald N. R. Blazars Through Sharp Multi-Wavelength Eyes, Malaga, Spain 2016

one epoch at a time: discovering jet structure in blazars through radio map stacking MacDonald N. R.,Jorstad S. G., & Marscher A. P. (1) Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Hamilton, Canada 2015 *Awarded Best Student Talk (2) New England Regional Quasar and AGN Meeting, Dartmouth College 2015

through the ring of fire: a study of the origin of orphan gamma-ray flares in blazars MacDonald N. R.,Marscher A. P., Jorstad S. G., & Joshi M. (1) American Astronomical Society Meeting, Boston, United States 2014 (2) Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Quebec City, Canada 2014 (3) New England Regional Quasar and AGN Meeting, Harvard CfA 2014

Posters from electrons to janskys: synthetic imaging of 3d relativistic jet simulations MacDonald N. R. 14th EVN Symposium & Users Meeting, Granada, Spain 2018

discerning the origin of orphan gamma-ray flares MacDonald N. R.,Marscher A. P., & Jorstad S. G. 6th International Fermi Symposium, Washington D.C. 2015

through the ring of fire: numerical simulations of blazar variability MacDonald N. R.,Marscher A. P., Jorstad S. G. & Joshi M. New England Regional Quasar/AGN Meeting, MIT Haystack Observatory 2013

seminars

Invited Talks nature’s death stars: a discussion of supermassive black holes, relativistic jets,& the event horizon telescope MacDonald N. R. (1) FORTH Institute of Astrophysics Seminar Series Crete, Greece 2021-05-19 (online) (2) Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory Seminar Series Herzberg Astrophysics, Canada 2021-04-21 (online) (3) Probing Energy Extraction from Supermassive Black Holes 43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly, 2021-02-01 (online) (4) Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) Seminar Series, University of Toronto, Canada 2020-01-23 (5) Department of Physics & Astronomy Colloquium, McMaster University, Canada 2020-01-22

from the micro to the macro: polarized radiative transfer through 3-d relativistic particle-in-cell jet simulations MacDonald N. R. ASTRON/JIVE Colloquium, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands, 2019-04-04

blazars: order & disorder MacDonald N. R. (1) Lunch Colloquium, Max-Planck-Institut fur¨ Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany, 2017-09-27 (2) Quasar Tea, Harvard CfA, 2017-02-24 (3) IAA-CSIC 2016 Seminar Series, Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Andaluc´ıa, Granada, Spain, 2016-09-06

a study of the flaring properties and polarized emission of blazars MacDonald N. R. (1) MIT Lunch Talk Series, Kavli Institute, 2015-11-09 (2) Quasar Tea, Harvard CfA, 2015-10-09

observing grants

Summer 2021 alma + the event horizon telescope (eht) “Delving Deeper into PKS 1510-089”. 9.0 hours. PI: MacDonald N. R.

Spring 2020 vlba + the european vlbi network (evn) “Unravelling the Nature of the Jet’s Magnetic Field within PKS 1510-089”. 15.0 hours. PI: MacDonald N. R.

Spring 2019 alma + the global mm-vlbi array (gmva) “Disorder vs. Order: Discerning the Nature of the Magnetic Field in PKS 1510-089”. 5.0 hours. PI: MacDonald N. R.

student advising & mentoring

Summer 2020 - joana kramer, ph.d. candidate present Thesis title: “Modeling X-ray Polarization from 3D Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Jet Simulations”. International Max Planck Research School for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IMPRS).

Spring 2019 - joana kramer, m.sc. 2020 Thesis title: “Extragalactic Jets - Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations and Ray-Tracing ”. University of Bonn & Max-Planck-Institut fur¨ Radioastronomie.

teaching

September 2021 lecturer, north west university (online) As part of a Max Planck Society initiative to foster research ties between Germany and South Africa, I gave a lecture on synchrotron theory entitled: “Synchrotron Radiation” (see the following URL) to a graduate class in high-energy astrophysics at North West University. Responsibilities included lecturing, developing course material, and grading problem sets/exams.

Winter 2017 - lecturer, boston university Spring 2017 Taught an introductory course entitled “The Astronomical Universe” to over 60 undergraduate students. Responsibilities included lecturing, developing course material, and proctoring and grading exams, as well organizing and running the Institute for Astrophysical Research (IAR) graduate student Journal Club. Fall 2014 teaching fellow, boston university Led discussion sections for over 40 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course entitled “Alien Worlds”. Responsibilities also included proctoring and grading exams and running night lab observing sessions at the Judson B. Coit Observatory.

Fall 2008 - Spring english teacher, kos island, greece 2009 Responsibilities included teaching ESL classes to over 120 students, ages 13-18. In addition, I presented a series of astronomy lectures to schoolchildren on the island as part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009) celebrations.

outreach

Summer 2021 rings of fire reveal secrets of a monster black hole Contributed comments to a press release on a co-author paper studying reoccurring high-energy variability in a bright blazar jet. (see https://www.ia.forth.gr/news)

Spring 2021 peering into the center of the milky way: black holes, the european southern observatory (eso), & the effelsberg radio telescope Gave an outreach talk to a physics class at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Gymnasium, Bonn, Germany 2021-06-14.

Spring 2019 discover magazine: the event horizon telescope’s possible next target? blazars Gave a short interview on possible non-horizon science targets for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) for an online article in Discover Magazine (see http://blogs.discovermagazine.com).

Spring 2019 social media moderator for the european eht press release Travelled to Brussels to help organize and moderate the online social media questions that were posed to the EHT panelists during the European press release for the EHT M87 image (see https://ec.europa.eu/commission).

Spring 2019 organized a max planck research group film documentary Helped to create a short film documentary entitled “Delving Deeper into the Cosmos: mm-VLBI at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy” (see http://www.mediomix.de) highlighting the contributions to black hole/jet research made by the Bonn VLBI research group. Responsibilities included story boarding, organizing, and coordinating on site filming, and editing footage prior to completion.

Fall 2018 astronomy on tap - bonn Gave an outreach talk entitled “Nature’s Death Stars: A Discussion of Relativistic Jets, Supermassive Black Holes & The Event Horizon Telescope” (see https://astronomyontap.org) showcasing recent advances in mm-wave very long baseline interferometry and black hole/jet research.

Summer 2017 astro101 -“what is a blazar?” Gave a short interview on the concept of blazar jets for an online course offered through the University of Alberta on black holes (see https://onlea.org/).

Winter 2016 the art of astrophysics Helped to organize a gallery exhibit (see http://astroart.bu.edu/) showcasing astronomy themed artwork produced by the Boston University Arts Community.

departmental service

Winter 2018 - vlbi group seminar series organizer present Responsibilities include organizing and chairing a weekly (to monthly) seminar series that promotes discussion of research within the MPIfR VLBI group. Winter 2017 - iar seminar series organizer Spring 2017 Responsibilities included contacting and scheduling speakers, organizing visitation schedules, and chairing talks as part of the Institute for Astrophysical Research (IAR) Seminar Series at Boston University.

research experience Fall 2017 - present postdoctoral/scientific staff member, mpifr, bonn Supervisors: Professor Anton Zensus & Professor Eduardo Ros

Fall 2010 - Fall graduate research assistant, boston university 2016 Supervisors: Professor Alan Marscher & Doctor Svetlana Jorstad

Fall 2006 - Spring graduate research assistant, saint mary’s university 2008 Supervisor: Professor David Clarke

Research Interests My research focuses on the study of extragalactic jets. I have been involved in theoretical, observational, and numerical studies of the physics of jet propagation and emission from kilo-parsec to sub-parsec scales.

computer skills Basic C++ Intermediate CASA, AIPS, Difmap, OpenMP, ParaView

Advanced Linux, Fortran, Python, LATEX

other information Professional The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration Memberships (see https://eventhorizontelescope.org/)

Polarimetric Monitoring of AGN at mm-Wavelengths (POLAMI) Program (see http://polami.iaa.es)

Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA)

American Astronomical Society (AAS)

European Astronomical Society (EAS)

Summer Schools Participated in the “CASA-VLBI Workshop” and Workshops JIVE, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands, November 2020 (online)

Participated in the “Black Holes & Alternatives” Brainstorming Workshop MPIfR, Bonn, Germany, March 2018

Participated in the “BlackHoleCam Face-to-Face Meeting” MPIfR, Bonn, Germany, March 2018

Participated in the “Blazars at the Highest Resolution” Humboldt Partnership Workshop - MPIfR, Bonn, Germany, December 2017

Participated in the NRAO Live! ALMA Proposal and Data Reduction Workshop - Boston University, March 2016

Participated in the NRAO North American ALMA Science Center Interferometry School - Green Bank, West Virginia, July 2015 references

professor anton zensus Max-Planck-Institut fur¨ Radioastronomie Auf dem Hugel¨ 69 Bonn 53121, Germany +49 228 525 378, [email protected]

professor eduardo ros Max-Planck-Institut fur¨ Radioastronomie Auf dem Hugel¨ 69 Bonn 53121, Germany +49 228 525 125, [email protected]

professor alan marscher Boston University Department of Astronomy 725 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215 United States of America (617) 353-5029, [email protected]

dr. svetlana jorstad Boston University Department of Astronomy 725 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215 United States of America (617) 353-1547, [email protected]

associate professor tereasa brainerd Boston University Department of Astronomy 725 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215 United States of America (617) 353-6646, [email protected]