Dr. McCrady is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of California, Los Angeles. Thought to be the building blocks of galaxies, massive star clusters are integrally linked to the formation of galactic stellar populations and provide potential sites for intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) that may represent the seeds for formation of super-massive black holes in galactic centers. Dr. McCrady will conduct a research program that seeks to answer two questions: (1) what role does substructure play in the dissolution of massive star clusters in the formation of galactic stellar populations? and (2) do intermediate-mass black holes form in dense star clusters? The proposed work involves diffraction-limited observations using adaptive optics (AO) systems on 8- and 10-m class ground-based telescopes and observations from space-based optical, infrared and X-ray telescopes to characterize the substructure and mass segregation of young, massive super star clusters in nearby galaxies. Additional observations will be used to identify star clusters associated with ultraluminous X-ray sources, which are thought to be IMBHs.
Dr. McCrady will also design and teach an integrative undergraduate course entitled "Energy in the Universe" that will use astronomy as the context and energy as a theme for investigating the scientific understanding of humans' place in the Universe. In addition, Dr. McCrady will use astronomy to foster interest in science among secondary school students through the Project ASTRO program.
