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CV
Publication List

Education

2003-2008: Ph.D. Astrophysics (June 2009, defended July 2008)
                      CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
                      Advisor: Professor Charles C. Steidel
                      Thesis Title: "The Kiloparsec-Scale Structure and Kinematics of High-Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies"

1999-2003: B.A. Astronomy-Physics, Summa Cum Laude, Minor Mathematics
                   UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
                   Advisor: Professor Steven R. Majewski
                   Thesis Title: "Modeling the Tidal Tails of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy"

Positions

2008-present: Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
2003-2008: Graduate Research Student, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
2003: Summer Research Assistant, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (Advisor: Dr. Steven Majewski)
2002: Summer Research Assistant, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (Advisor: Dr. Steven Majewski)
2001: Summer Research Assistant, NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY (Advisor: Dr. Kathleen DeGioia Eastwood)
2000: Summer Research Assistant, MIT HAYSTACK OBSERVATORY (Advisor: Dr. Colin Lonsdale)

Awards and Honors

2008: Hubble Fellowship, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
2003: Holloway Fellowship, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
2003: D. Nelson Limber Prize, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
2003: Small Research Fellowship, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
2002: Phi Beta Kappa
1999: Echols Scholar, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Teaching and Outreach

2010: Invited speaker, Ventura County Astronomical Society (scheduled).
2006-2007: Co-advised (with C. Steidel) senior thesis research by a Caltech undergraduate.
2005: Teaching Assistant, Structure and Dynamics of Galaxies (CALTECH, graduate level)
2005: Teaching Assistant, Galaxies and Cosmology (CALTECH, graduate level)
2004, 2005: Teaching Assistant, Astronomical Measurements and Instrumentation (CALTECH, graduate level)
2002-2003: Public Night Telescope Operator (UVA, McCormick Observatory)

Professional Societies and Service

Developed OSIRIS (infrared IFU) data simulation package for Keck Observatory
Referee for the Astrophysical Journal
Science team member: Thirty Meter Telescope, Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
Science Advisor: Keck next-generation adaptive optics program
Member of the American Astronomical Society

Grant and Proposal History

Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 17 (WFC3/IR), PI, 2008
42 Orbits - Mapping the Interaction between High-Redshift Galaxies and the Intergalactic Environment
GO-11694
Allocation ~$150,000

Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 17 (WFC3/UVIS), CoI, 2008
30 Orbits - Illuminating the HI Structure of a Proto-cluster Region at z=2.84
GO-11638
Allocation ~$120,000

STSCI Hubble Fellowship Program, PI, 2008-2010
Understanding the Complex Gaseous Environment of Galaxies at z ~ 2-3
HF-01221
Allocation ~$300,000

W.M. Keck Observatory (NIRC2), CoI, 2009
1 night total - Optical Morphologies of Star-Forming Galaxies at z ~ 2

W.M. Keck Observatory (OSIRIS), CoI, 2008
5 nights total - Mapping Star Formation in Faint QSO Host Galaxies at z ~ 2

W.M. Keck Observatory (OSIRIS), CoI, 2005-2008
17 nights total - Spatially Resolved Kinematics of Star-Forming Galaxies at z ~ 2

Observing Experience

Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (CTIO):
  • 1.5m (CSPEC): 4 nights
  • Blanco 4m (MOSAIC): 6 nights
Las Campanas Observatory:
  • duPont 100'': 5 nights
Lowell Observatory
  • 31'': 2 nights
Palomar Observatory
  • 200'' (LFC): 1 night
  • 200'' (WIRC): 16 nights
W.M. Keck Observatory:
  • Keck I (LRIS): 3 nights
  • Keck II (NIRC2): 1 night
  • Keck II (NIRSPEC): 9 nights
  • Keck II (OSIRIS): 23 nights

Publications (ADS)

Refereed Articles

  1. Law, D.R. and Majewski, S.R. 2010, ApJ submitted.
    "The Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy: a Model for Evolution in a Triaxial Milky Way Halo."

  2. Law, D.R., Majewski, S.R., and Johnston, K.V. 2009, ApJL, 703, 67.
    "Evidence for a Triaxial Milky Way Dark Matter Halo from the Sagittarius Stellar Tidal Stream."

  3. Law, D. R., Steidel, C.C., Erb, D.K., Larkin, J.E., Pettini, M., Shapley, A.E., and Wright, S.A. 2009, ApJ, 697, 2057.
    "The Kiloparsec-Scale Kinematics of High-Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies."

  4. Basu-Zych, A., Gonçalves, T., Overzier, R., Law, D.R., Schiminovich, D., Heckman, T., Martin, C., Wyder, T., and O'Dowd, M. 2009, ApJ, 699, 118.
    "An OSIRIS Study of the Gas Kinematics in a Sample of UV-Selected Galaxies: Evidence of `Hot and Bothered' Starbursts in the Local Universe."

  5. Geha, M., Willman, B., Simon, J.D., Strigari, L.E., Kirby, E., Law, D.R., and Strader, J. 2009, ApJ, 692, 1464.
    "The Least Luminous Galaxy: Spectroscopy of the Milky Way Dwarf Galaxy Segue I"

  6. Wright, S.A., Larkin, J.E., Law, D.R., Steidel, C.C., Shapley, A.E., and Erb, D.K. 2009, ApJ, 699, 421.
    "Dynamics of Galactic Disks and Mergers at z~1.6: Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy with Keck Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics"

  7. Chou, M., Majewski, S.R., Cunha, K., Smith, V.V., Patterson, R.J., Martinez-Delgado, D., Law, D.R., Crane, J.D., Munoz, R.R., Lopez, R. G., Geisler, D., and Skrutskie, M.F. 2007, ApJ, 670, 346.
    "A 2MASS All-Sky View of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy: Variation of the Metallicity Distribution Function Along the Sagittarius Tidal Stream."

  8. Law, D.R., Steidel, C.C., Erb, D.K., Larkin, J.E., Pettini, M., Shapley, A.E., and Wright, S.A. 2007, ApJ, 669, 929
    "Integral Field Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Star Forming Galaxies with Laser Guided Adaptive Optics: Evidence for Dispersion-Dominated Kinematics."

  9. Peter, A.H.G., Shapley, A.E., Law, D.R., Steidel, C.C., Erb, D.K., Reddy, N.A., and Pettini, M. 2007, ApJ, 668, 23.
    "Morphologies of Galaxies in and around a Protocluster at z=2.300"

  10. Wright, S.A., Larkin, J.E., Barczys, M., Erb, D.K., Iserlohe, C., Krabbe, A., Law, D.R., McElwain, M.W., Quirrenbach, A., Steidel, C.C., and Weiss, J. 2007, ApJ, 658, 78.
    "Integral Field Spectroscopy of a Candidate Disk Galaxy at z~1.5 using Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics."

  11. Law, D.R., Steidel, C.C., Erb, D.K., Pettini, M., Reddy, N.A., Shapley, A.E., Adelberger, K.L., and Simenc, D.J. 2007, ApJ, 656, 1.
    "The Physical Nature of Rest-UV Galaxy Morphology during the Peak Epoch of Galaxy Formation."

  12. Casetti-Dinescu, D.I., Majewski, S.R., Girard, T.M., Carlin, J.L., van Altena, W.F., Patterson, R.J., and Law, D.R. 2006, AJ, 132, 2082.
    "A Deep Proper-Motion Survey in Kapteyn Selected Areas: I. Survey Description and First Results for Stars in the Tidal Tail of Sagittarius and in the Monoceros Ring."

  13. Majewski, S.R., Law, D.R., Polak, A.A., and Patterson, R.J. 2006, ApJL, 637, 25.
    "Measuring Fundamental Galactic Parameters with Stellar Tidal Streams and SIM PlanetQuest."

  14. Law, D.R., Steidel, C.C., and Erb, D.K. 2006, AJ, 131, 70.
    "Predictions and Strategies for Integral-Field Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Galaxies."

  15. Law, D.R., Johnston, K.V., and Majewski, S.R. 2005, ApJ, 619, 807.
    "A 2MASS All-Sky View of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy: IV. Modeling the Sagittarius Tidal Tails."

  16. Johnston, K.V., Law, D.R., and Majewski, S.R. 2005, ApJ, 619, 800.
    "A 2MASS All-Sky View of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy: III. Constraints on the Flattening of the Galactic Halo."

  17. Majewski, S.R., Kunkel, W.E., Law, D.R., Patterson, R.J., Polak, A.A., Rocha-Pinto, H.J., Crane, J.D., Frinchaboy, P.M, Hummels, C.B., Johnston, K.V., Rhee, J., Skrutskie, M.F. and Weinberg, M.D. 2004, AJ, 128, 245.
    "A 2MASS All-Sky View of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy: II. Swope Telescope Spectroscopy of M Giant Stars in the Dynamically Cold Sagittarius Tidal Stream."

  18. Crane, J.D., Majewski, S.R., Rocha-Pinto, H.J., Frinchaboy, P.M., Skrutskie, M.F., and Law, D.R. 2003, ApJL, 594, 119.
    "Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars: Spectroscopy of Stars in the Galactic Anticenter Stellar Structure."

  19. Law, D.R., Majewski, S.R., Skrutskie, M.F., Carpenter, J., and Ayub, H.F. 2003, AJ, 126, 1871.
    "2MASS Studies of Differential Reddening Across Three Massive Globular Clusters."

  20. Law, D.R., DeGioia-Eastwood, K., and Moore, K.L. 2002, ApJ, 565, 1239.
    "Empirical Bounds for the Ionizing Fluxes of Wolf-Rayet Stars."

Selected Non-refereed Articles

  • Law, D.R., Wright, S.A., Ellis, R.S., Erb, D.K., Nesvadba, N., Steidel, C.C., and Swinbank, M. 2009:
    "Kinematics and Formation Mechanisms of High-Redshift Galaxies": article submitted to the Astro 2010 Decadal Survey.

  • Wright, S.A., Law, D.R., Ellis, R.S., Erb, D.K., Larkin, J.E., Lu, J.R., and Steidel, C.C. 2009:
    "Tracing the Evolution and Distribution of Metallicity in the Early Universe": article submitted to the Astro 2010 Decadal Survey.

Selected Talks

  • Dec 4, 2009. Colloquium speaker, New York University:
    "Evidence for a Triaxial Milky Way Dark Matter Halo from the Sgr Stellar Stream."

  • May 5, 2009. Colloquium speaker, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics:
    "Kiloparsec-Scale Kinematics in High Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies."

  • Mar 10, 2009. STSCI: Hubble Fellows Symposium:
    "Kiloparsec-Scale Kinematics in High Redshift Star-Forming Galaxies."

  • Mar 12, 2008. IPAC lunch talk:
    "The Structure and Kinematics of High-Redshift Galaxies."

  • Jan 10, 2008. AAS Meeting:
    "Integral-Field Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Star Forming Galaxies with Laser-Guided Adaptive Optics."

  • Jul 24, 2007. TMT Science Meeting:
    "TMT: Science Goals and Design Requirements for IFU Studies of High-Redshift Galaxies."

  • April 18, 2007. UC San Diego Colloquium:
    "Spatially Resolved Kinematics of Star-Forming Galaxies in the Early Universe."

  • September 15, 2006. Keck Science Meeting:
    "OSIRIS observations of star-forming galaxies at z=2-3"

  • Summer 2003. ING-IAC Joint Conference: Satellites and Tidal Streams (ASPC 327, 239)
    "Modeling the Tidal Tails of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy."

Selected Presentations

  • Law, D.R., Majewski, S.R., and Johnston, K.V. 2010. AAS Meeting 215
    "Evidence for a Triaxial Milky Way Dark Matter Halo from the Sagittarius Stellar Tidal Stream."

  • Law, D.R. 2006. IAU 26th General Assembly.
    "The Physical Nature of Rest-UV Galaxy Morphology during the Peak Epoch of Galaxy Formation."

  • Law, D.R., Steidel, C.C., Erb, D.K., and Simenc, D. 2005. UCSC Conference: 'Nearly Normal Galaxies in a LCDM Universe.'
    "Dynamics of High Redshift Galaxies from Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy"

  • Law, D.R., Steidel, C.C., Erb, D.K., and Reddy, N.A. 2005. AAS Meeting 205
    "A Strategy Guide for Integral-Field Spectroscopy of z ~ 2 Galaxies."

  • Hummels, C.B., Johnston, K.V., Majewski, S.R., and Law, D.R. 2005. AAS Meeting 205
    "Observing Dynamical Friction using the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy's Tidal Streams."

  • Pakzad, S.L., Majewski, S.R., Frinchaboy, P.M., Hummels, C.B., Ivezic, Z., Johnston, K.V., Law, D.R., Patterson, R.J., Prada, F., and Skrutskie, M.F. 2005. AAS Meeting 205
    "Tidal Streams in the Outer Galactic Halo: Pieces of a 500-degree Long Trailing Sagittarius Tidal Tail?"

  • Law, D.R., DeGioia-Eastwood, K., and Moore, K.L. 2002. AAS Meeting 199
    "Empirical Bounds for the Ionizing Fluxes of Wolf-Rayet Stars."

  • Lonsdale, C.J., Cappallo, R.J., Doeleman, S.S., and Law, D.R. 2000. AAS Meeting 197
    "Simulations and Algorithms for Future Radio Astronomy Arrays."

Popular Press

Circular Bulletins

  • Cenko, S.B., Fox, D.B., Kulkarni, S.R., Reddy, N., Erb, D., Law, D. and Steidel, C. 2005, GRB Circular Service
    "GRB 050520: P200 observations."

  • Ticha, J., Tichy, M., Jelinek, P., Kornos, L., Koleny, P., Smalley, K., Balam, D. D., Weissman, P., Lowry, S., Desroches, L., Grimstad, T. R., Law, D. R., Dyvig, R., Spahr, T. B. 2001, Minor Planet Center Electronic Circ.
    "2001 MT18."