I've adapted and written a couple tutorials on continuous gravitational wave searches in PTA datasets, which you can find in this repository. These tutorials were originally written as part of a larger set of lectures + tutorials for the 2024 VIPER Summer School on PTA GW Astrophysics, which has its own larger repository here, and have since been used for the NANOGrav Fall 2024 Meeting's student workshop.

Tutorial 1 aims to give users a better intuition for the CW signal, the parameters that govern it, and how pulsars respond to this signal. It also covers frequentist (F-statistic) and Bayesian MCMC searches (using both PTMCMCSampler and QuickCW) for CWs in a toy dataset and uses the recovered parameters to calculate the binary system's orbital period and separation, decay timescale, and host galaxy parameters. Tutorial 2 picks up where the first one leaves off, this time focusing more on multi-messenger astrophysics with PTA data. Starting with the localization information obtained from the CW search, users gain experience using tools such as healpy and ligo.skymap. The tutorial then dives into host galaxy identification, bringing together the CW localization information and NANOGrav's catalog of massive galaxies in the local Universe. Functions for calculating the localization area and number of potential host galaxies therein are provided. Finally, users execute example cuts on potential hosts before exploring host cut approaches of their own design.

Recordings of tutorial walkthroughs from the 2024 VIPER Summer School can be found below:

During my PhD, I had the pleasure of being on the organizing team of Nashville's branch of Astronomy on Tap since its inception in September 2023. This AoT satellite holds monthly events at Fait la Force Brewing Company; each event includes two speakers, who share their knowledge (and love) of a variety of astronomical topics, astronomy trivia, and craft beers. I contributed to the design of our logo and managed our social media presence, particularly our Instagram and Facebook pages, which gave me joy in sharing a steady stream of astronomy content with the Nashville community.

Along with fellow PhD student KeShawn Ivory and Vanderbilt astrophysics faculty Steve Taylor and Keivan Stassun, I was featured on Nashville's NPR station on their show This is Nashville in July 2023! Check out the recording here: Peering into space with Nashville astronomers.