Dr. Amanda Heiderman is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Virginia and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The Fellow's project will provide a foundation for interpreting studies of star formation and gas content in external galaxies by directly comparing the star formation rate and gas content in Milky Way star forming regions to spatially resolved regions in spiral and starburst galaxies.
The Fellow will explore the rate at which molecular gas is converted into stars through detailed studies of Galactic low and high mass star forming regions as well as spatially resolved multi-wavelength observations of gas-rich nearby spiral and starburst/interacting galaxies. The current availability of observational photometric and spectroscopic Galactic surveys is well matched to study star formation from individual young stellar objects (YSOs) to properties of their parent molecular clouds in the Milky Way. The Fellow will build a statistical sample of star forming regions in the Milky Way by associating Galactic source catalogs with catalogs of molecular clouds as traced by CO. Since extragalactic studies often utilize CO maps to trace the total amount of molecular gas mass in a galaxy, comparing CO in Galactic clouds and associated YSOs will test the efficacy of CO as a tracer of total amount of molecular gas in galaxies.
The broader impacts of this project include a significant educational component. The fellow will undertake a program of educational outreach in partnership with Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) in Charlottesville. The project focuses on filling in the gap between K through 12 and 4-year college outreach programs by seeking the diverse student population at PVCC. The Fellow will begin a mentoring program for underrepresented students at PVCC. The Fellow will hold an "Astronomy Science Night" at PVCC to find potential mentees that will highlight the work done by young scientists at UVa and NRAO to PVCC students and encourage their interest in science. The main goal of this mentoring program will be to help underrepresented students interested in science to pursue Bachelor's and higher degrees. Encouraging minority students at PVCC to transition to a 4-year college or university will help diversify the student body at these institutions and strengthen the likelihood that more first generation college and ethnic minority students will pursue higher degrees and careers in science.
