Curriculum Vitae
Bahram Mobasher Professor of Observational Astronomy University of California, Riverside
Personal Details:
Name: Bahram Mobasher Address: Physics and Astronomy Department 900 University Ave., University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 USA
Phone: 951 827 7190 (w) 410 807 5059 (c)
Fax: 951 827 4529
Email: [email protected]
Education
1977-1980 Pars College, Tehran, Iran B.S in Physics 1980
1981-1983 University of Durham, Durham, U.K. M.S in Observational Cosmology 1983 M.S Thesis: The Determination of Extragalactic Distance Scale
1984-1988 University of Durham, Durham, U.K. Ph.D in Observational Cosmology 1988 Supervisor: Professor R. S. Ellis Ph.D. Thesis: An Infrared Study of a Sample of Optically Selected Galaxies
1989-1991 University of London. London, U.K. M.Sc in Opto-electronics 1991 M.Sc Thesis: Neural Nets and Dense Holographic Interconnection schemes
1989-1991 University of London, London, U.K. Post-Graduate Diploma in Microwave Engineering 1991
Appointments
July 2007-Present Full Professor of Physics and Observational Astronomy, University of California, Riverside
2000-2007 Associate Astronomer, Space Telescope Science Institute 2000-2007 Staff Scientist, European Space Agency (ESA)
1995-2000 Research Fellow, Imperial College, University of London
1992-1994 Instrument Scientist on the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), Imperial College, University of London
1989-1991 University of Leicester, Leicester, U.K. Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Astrophysics
Honors and Awards
• Award from the `Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principles of the Universities of the United Kingdom' 1983-1987 • Research Fellowship, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London 1995-2000 • Award from NASA for outstanding technical accomplishments for the third Servicing Mission (SM3) to HST - 2002 • Recognized among the top three most productive members of the science staff at the STScI - 2004/05 • Science Achievement Award from the European Space Agency- 2004 • Khwarizmi International Award (KIA) for outstanding scientific accomplishments 2007 - 1st prize in Basic Sciences • Visiting Associate, California Institute of Technology 2008-2009 • Adjunct Professor, Institute for Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, Tehran, Iran 2008-present • Innovative Teaching Award, University of California, Riverside 2011 • Elected the representative to the University of California Assembly 2012 Membership on Panels and Committees
• Chair of NASA’s Long Term Space Astrophysics (LTSA) and Astrophysical Data Processing (ADP) panel for Normal Galaxies 2004-2007 • Member of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) Time Allocation Committee 2005-2006 • Member of STScI Director Discretionary Research Fund (DDRF)-(2004-2006), Science Evaluation (2004) and Honors and Awards Committees (2005) • Member of the Subaru Telescope Time Allocation Committee 2004-2006 • Selection committee- STScI Fellowship program (2005) • Chief Editor, Hubble Space Telescope Instrument Handbooks 2006 • Chief Editor, Hubble Space Telescope Data Handbooks 2006 • Editor, NICMOS Instrument Handbook on the Hubble Space Telescope 2006 • Chair, Astronomy Faculty Search Committee, University of California, Riverside (2009, 2010) • Chair, Science Lecture Series on “The Science of Evolution” UC Riverside 2009 • Member, ad-hoc committee, UC Riverside, 2008 • Member, Committee on Courses, UC Riverside 2009-2012 • Chair, colloquium committee Physics and Astronomy Dept., UC Riverside 2008-12 • Member, graduate admission committee, Physics and Astronomy Dept., UC, Riverside 2007-11 • Instrument Scientist, Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph (IRMS) Instrument on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) 2009-present • Co-I and Board Member- South California Center for Galaxy Evolution (2009-12) • Member- Selection Committee, Center for Galaxy Evolution Fellowship (2009-12) • Chair, Astronomy Faculty Search Committee, UC Riverside (2010, 2011) • Member, Comprehensive Exam Committee (2009-12) • Member, Advancement Exam Committees: UCR Physics & Astronomy and Earth Sciences (10 times) • Member, Thesis Defense Committees: UCR Physics and Engineering (3 times) • Member, UC Astronomy Task Force (2011) • Representative to UC system-wide Assembly (2012-14) • Member, Honors and Awards Committee- UCR Physics & Astronomy (2010-2012) • Member, Academic Planning Committee- UCR Physics & Astronomy (2012) • Member, Hubble Space Telescope Time Allocation Committee (2011 and 2012) • Member, Spitzer Space Telescope Time Allocation Committee (2011) • Member, NASA Dark Energy Proposal Review Committee (2010) • Member, Keck Telescope Time Allocation Committee (2011-present) • Member, Faculty Search Committee for Theoretical Physics 2012 • Member, Review Committee: San Diego State University Astronomy program 2013
Research Interests
Formation and Evolution of Galaxies, Observational Cosmology, Multi-waveband Galaxy Surveys, Search for High Redshift Galaxies, Photometric Redshift Techniques, SED Fitting and Measurement of Stellar Mass of Galaxies, Imaging and Spectroscopic Data Reduction/processing, Quantitative Galaxy Morphologies, Nature of Massive and Evolved Galaxies at High Redshifts, Star Formation Activity, galaxy source counts, Dark Energy
Activities and Collaborations
• Core member of the GOODS, COSMOS, Coma Legacy and CANDELS programs • Member of the COSMOS project Steering Committee • Member of the CANDELS project Executive Committee • Lead of the CANDELS working group on SED fitting, photometric redshift and stellar mass measurement • Member of the CANDELS Supernovae team • I co-lead the spectroscopic follow-up observations of the CANDELS fields • I am the project scientist on the Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph (IRMS) on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) • Co-founder and on the board of the South California Center for Galaxy Evolution (CGE) • PI on the Hubble Legacy Archival Project on “Galaxy Evolution Studies from Precision Panchromatic Photometry of Hubble and Spitzer Fields” • Co-PI of the large legacy program on the Keck Telescope- “MOSfire Deep Evolution Field” (MOSDEF) for which 45 nights are requested. Technical Experience
• I was instrument scientist on the HST/NICMOS instrument. I was involved in monitoring and measuring the dark current, temperature dependence, shading and pedestal corrections. I led the effort on NICMOS non-linearity and zero-point calibration and study of intra-pixel sensitivity (2003-2005)
• I was the editor-in-chief of the Hubble Space Telescope Data Handbooks (WFC2, STIS, NICMOS, ACS)- (2004)
• I have extensive experience in optical/infrared observations (both imaging and spectroscopy) of galaxies. This includes designing large multi-waveband galaxy surveys, data reduction pipelines (IRAF and shell scripts) and generating galaxy catalogues. I have ben a core member of the GOODS, COSMOS, Coma Treasury and CANDELS projects over the last years.
• I was involved in developing code measuring photometric redshifts of galaxies (with Tomas Dahlen) using their observed Spectral Energy Distributions.
• I am the instrument scientist on the Infra-Red Multi-object Spectrograph (IRMS), one of the first-light instruments planned on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). I lead the science team for the IRMS.
• I have extensively used the Keck Telescopes and have experience in designing DEIMOS masks and using its pipeline. I have significant experience in spectroscopy of faint, high redshift galaxies.
Books
I co-edited a new graduate level text book on “The First Galaxies: Observational Clues and Theoretical Predictions” Ed. T. Wiklind, B. Mobasher, V. Broom. The book is now completed and will be published by the Springer in November 2012.
I edited and compiled a book on “The Origins” which will be used as the main book for my lower division PHYS 37 course (September 2012)
Grant Activities (2007-12)
STScI ($118,508 over 3 years (2011-14)- UCR share): “Cosmic Assembly Near- infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS)” (PI: S.M. Faber & H. C. Ferguson; UCR PI: B. Mobasher) Hubble Treasury Program
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy ($196K, 2011-2014): “Galaxy Evolution Studies from High Precision Panchromatic Photometry of Hubble and Spitzer Survey Fields” (PI: B. Mobasher) Legacy Archival program
Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory Corporation ($189,582, 2010- 2013) “ Infrared Multi-slit Spectrometer (IRMS) Scientific Performance Study” (PI: B. Mobasher)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory ($6,824K, 2011-2013) “Herschel Observations of the Coma Cluster” (PI: B. Mobasher)
Carnegie Observatories ($66,547, 2011-2013) “Investigating Small-scale Clustering of Galaxies at 0.5 < z < 2.5 in the WISP Survey (Fellowship for Daniel Masters)” (PI: B. Mobasher)
Academic Senate ($1,400, 2008-09) “Travel Award” Academic Senate ($1,050, 2009-10) “Travel Award”
UC Office of the President (UCoP)- ($1.2M, 2007-12): “South California Center for Galaxy Evolution- Fellowship Program” (PI: J. Bullock (UCI), co-PI: B. Mobasher)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory ($5K, 2007-09): “The Physical Nature and Age of Lyman alpha Galaxies” (PI: B. Mobasher)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory ($83,156, 2007-09): “S-COSMOS Deep Survey of the HST COSMOS 2-Degree ACS Field” (PI: B. Mobasher)
Goddard Space Flight Center- GALEX ($45K: 2006-2009): “Star Formation Rates and UV Luminosity Function of Galaxies in Clusters” (PI: Hornschemeier & Mobasher)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory- Spitzer ($52K: 2006-2009): “Uncovering Galaxies and Star Formation in the Outskirts of the Coma” (PI: Hornschemeier & Mobasher)
Telescope Time Allocations (2009-2012)
Keck Telescope 2013A: “The MOSDEF Survey” 15 Nights with MOSFIRE (Long Status Program)- submitted in September 2012 (PI: A. Shapley, co-PI: B. Mobasher)
Keck Telescope 2013A: “Internal Dynamics of Coma Cluster Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies” 3 Nights with Keck/DEIMOS- (PI: R. Guhathakurta) submitted September 2012
Keck Telescope 2012A: “Spectroscopic Study of High-z Galaxies in the CANDELS Fields” 4 Nights (PI: B. Mobasher)
Keck Telescope 2012B: “Deep Spectroscopic Observations of Galaxies in the CANDELS Fields” 4 Nights (PI: B. Mobasher)
Keck Telescope 2012B: “MOSFIRE Spectroscopy of the Highest Redshift Galaxy Candidate in the COSMOS Field” 3 Nights (PI: N. Z. Scoville, B. Mobasher)
Keck Telescope 2012B: “The BPT Diagram and its Interpretation for Emission Line Galaxies at z~1.4-2.4” 3 Nights (PI: S. M. Faber, co-I: B. Mobasher)
Keck Telescope 2011A: “Spectroscopic Study of Lyman Break and Balmer Break Galaxies” 3 Nights (PI: B. Mobasher)
Keck Telescope 2011B: “Spectroscopic Study of z > 4 Galaxies in the CANDELS Fields” 3 Nights (PI: B. Mobasher)
Keck Telescope 2010A: “Nature of Galaxies in a Proto-cluster at z ~ 5.3” 1 Night (PI: B. Mobasher)
Herschel Space Telescope 2011: “Herschel Observations of the Coma Cluster” 10 hours
Hubble Space Telescope 2009: “Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS)” 900 orbits (PIs: S. M. Faber & H. C. Ferguson)
Teaching
In the following, I summarize my teaching activities over the last five years.
• I initiated and developed five courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels:
- Exploring the Universe (PHYS 20) - The Origins (PHYS 37) - Galaxy Evolution and Cosmology (PHYS 219) - Advanced Galaxy Formation and Cosmology (PHYS 230) - Astrophysics of the Interstellar Medium (PHYS 213)
• I received UCR “Innovative Teaching Award” in 2011. This was awarded to me for connecting the humanities and astronomy.
• My lower-division course (PHYS 20) has been one of the largest classes on the campus, with a total of 580 students registered. Similarly, my new course (PHYS 37) on “The Origins” has had a similar number of students (580) attending, with a long waitlist.
• For “The Origins” course, I compiled an entire book accompanying the course.
• I have been a visiting professor at the University of Autonoma, Madrid (UAM). I visit UAM once a year and give lectures to students for the Master of Science degree in Astronomy.
• I have hosted and supervised 15 undergraduate students in my group over the last three years, supported through the Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) scheme, UCR CNAS dean fellowships and NSF’s Research and Education for Undergraduates (REU) schemes.
Graduate Students- Past and Present
Past and present graduate students:
Andrew Hopkins Ph.D. 1997 Univ. of Sydney (co-supervised with Prof. L. Cram) The Phoenix Multi-wavelength Deep Survey Current Position: Professor of Astronomy and Head of Science at the Anglo-Australian Observatory
Lisa Stephenson Ph.D. 1998 Imperial College, London Determination of Local Velocity Field from a Uniform Galaxy Survey
Antonis Georgakakis Ph.D. 1999 Imperial College, London The Nature and Statistical properties of Sub-mJy Radio Sources Current Position: Staff Scientist in X-ray astronomy at Max Planck Institute, Garching, Germany
Jose Afonso Ph.D. 2002 Imperial College, London On the Star Formation Properties of Faint Radio Sources Current Position: Director of Lisbon Observatory
Edward Villanoeva MS 2008 University of California, Riverside Photometry of GOODS Galaxies Using TFIT Photometric Technique Current Position: Programmer and Data Analyst at Carnegie Science Institute in Pasadena, California
Hugo Messias (co-supervised with Jose Afonso at Lisbon University, Portugal) Ph.D. 2011 A Multi-waveband Study of Near- and Mid-infrared Selected Galaxies Current Position: Post-doctoral researcher at University of Concepcion, Chile
I currently supervise five graduate students at the Astronomy Group, UC Riverside.
Post-Doctoral Scholars
Tomas Dahlen (2002-2005): Was a GOODS project post-doctoral researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute. He worked on luminosity function and star formation activity in galaxies and photometric redshift techniques.
Thomas Puzia (2003-2006): Was on a fellowship from the European Space Agency (ESA) to work with me at the Space Telescope Science Institute. His main work was on study of the nature of E+A galaxies.
Masami Ouchi (2004-2007): Was a Hubble Fellow at the STScI. I was Masami’s faculty contact and main collaborator at the institute. He mainly worked on dropout and search for z ~ 7 galaxies and the nature of high-z galaxy candidates.
Leigh Jenkins (2005-2007): Worked with Dr. Ann Hornschemeier (Goddard Space Flight Center) and I. She was on the Spitzer grant and worked on Spitzer observations of galaxies in the Coma cluster.
Nimish Hathi (2008-2010): Was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Riverside. His work is on the nature and properties of high redshift galaxies.
Chihiro Tokuku (2010-2011): was a TMT/IRMS post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Riverside. Her work was mainly on IRMS.
Ryan Mallery (2010-2012): Was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Riverside. His work is on Lyman alpha escape fraction for z > 3 galaxies.
Vivian U (2012-2014): Is currently on a TMT/IRMS post-doctoral fellowship at the astronomy department, University of California, Riverside.
Sarah Miller (2012-2013): Is jointly working with Prof. R. S. Ellis (Caltech) and me, on spectroscopic properties of distant galaxies.
South California Center for Galaxy Evolution (CGE)
I am a co-I and board member of the newly established “South California Center for Galaxy Evolution”. We initiated this center after we received a $2.2M Dollar grant from the UC Office of the President. The aim of the center is to foster research activities between different UC campuses in southern California. We hired two post-doctoral research fellows each year, for the last three years, and organize workshops to allow the faculty, post-doctoral scholars and graduate students in astronomy at the UC campuses in southern California to interact and to collaborate.
Publication Record
I have a total of ~200 papers published in refereed journals. I have made significant contributions to all these papers, ranging from planning the projects, writing telescope time proposal, observing, reducing, processing, analyzing and interpreting the data and writing the paper.
Press Releases
Nature of Dark Energy (Adam Riess) New clues about the nature of Dark Energy: Einstein may have been right after all http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=13698
Dark Matter in COSMOS from Gravitational Lensing (Richard Massey) First 3D Map of the Universe’s Dark Matter Scaffolding http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic0701.html
Discovery of a Massive and Evolved Galaxy at High Redshift (Bahram Mobasher) Big Baby galaxies in New Born Universe http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/sep/HQ_05286_HST_Big_Baby.html
Formation of Bars at High Redshifts (Kartik Sheth) Astronomers describe the bar scene at the beginning of the Universe http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080729133527.htm
A sub-mm detected star-forming Galaxy at high redshifts (Peter Capak) Rare “Star-making Machine” found in Distant Universe http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/news/spitzer-20080710.html
Discovery of Galaxies at z~7 (Masami Ouchi) “Dropouts” Pinpoint Earliest Galaxies http://www.ciw.edu/news/dropouts_pinpoint_earliest_galaxies
Massive Proto-cluster at z=5.3 (Peter Capak) http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/57985773/massive-protocluster-galaxies- redshift-z-5-3
Newspaper Articles and Press Interviews: - Article in Press Enterprise, newspaper of California Inland Empire (May 2009) “Did we need to fix the Hubble ?” - Press interview with Pasadena Sun and San Gabriel Tribune newspapers (Nov 2009)
Outreach Activities
Over the last 5 years, I have had extensive outreach activities. In the following, I list some of these activities:
- Chair of UCR Science Lecture Series (2009). Working with the CNAS Dean office, I organized and executed five science lectures on the topic of “Evolution from Earth to the Universe”. I also gave a public science talk on “Let there be light: the first 1 billion years” which was attended by 600 people. - Public Talks at schools: During the last five years, I have been extensively involved with giving public talks in astronomy to local schools. These include: Mark Twain Elementary (2 times); Hemet high school (3 times); Riverside STEM Academy (2 times); Pomona high school (once); Santiago High School (once) - I gave a talk on TedEx and it is currently available on the youtube - I gave talks for fundraising purposes to the Watkins Society at UCR - Talks to Palm Desert Indian Ridge Country Club (2 times) - Interviews with KPP radio station, BBC radio and TV (4 times) - Public talk at the Middle East library in London - Presentations at High School Teacher’s Summer Academy in Physics (3 summers) - Presentations at Physics and Astronomy open day at UCR (3 years) - Talk at the Society of architectures and engineers in Irvine - Irvine Astronomical Society, Riverside Astronomical Society - Public talk at Huntington Library in Pasadena - Osher lecture (Palm Desert) - Osher lecture series at UCR extension center (6 lectures) - Science Fair Judge (UCR- May 2012)