NATE MCCRADY

Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Montana
32 Campus Drive, #1080
Missoula, MT 59812
Office: 406.243.2041

CURRENT POSITION

Assistant Professor of Astrophysics
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Montana

EDUCATION

Ph. D. (Astrophysics), University of California, Berkeley, 2005

    Ph. D. Dissertation: The Super Star Cluster Population of the M82 Nuclear Starburst
    Advisor: James R. Graham

M. A. (Astrophysics), University of California, Berkeley, 2001
B. S. (Physics), University of Washington, 1999
B. S. (Astronomy), University of Washington, 1999


RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Postdoctoral Researcher

    UCLA Galactic Center Group, Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2008 - 2009

  • Analyzing laser guide star adaptive optics detector response and developing photometry and astrometry techniques for crowded fields. 

  • Characterizing the stellar populations of young, dense star clusters at the Galactic Center. 

    • Collaborators: Andrea Ghez, Mark Morris, Jessica Lu

    NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow

        UCLA, Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2005 - 2008

  • Characterizing structure and dissolution of extragalactic young, massive star clusters at very high spatial resolution with adaptive optics imaging and integral field spectroscopy. 

    • Collaborators: James R. Graham, William D. Vacca, Christopher Sheehy

  • Studying the nuclear region of starburst galaxy NGC 253 using high resolution spectra of recombination and molecular emission lines. 

    • Student: Kathy Kornei

    Graduate Student Researcher

        University of California, Berkeley, Astronomy Department, 2000 - 2005

  • Measured the dynamical mass of super star clusters in starburst galaxy M82 using near-infrared echelle spectroscopy and HST/NICMOS and ACS imaging. 

    • Advisor: James R. Graham.  Collaborator: William D. Vacca.   Student: Rick Kirian

  • Conducted millimeter aperture synthesis imaging of high-density molecular gas tracers to characterize star forming regions in M82.

    • Collaborators: Leo Blitz, Erik Rosolowsky

    Undergraduate Research Assistant

        University of Washington, Astronomy Department, 1998 - 1999

  • Analyzed multi-wavelength (UV, optical, IR, sub-mm) observations for a catalog of young stellar objects undergoing the transition from embedded protostar to visible pre-main sequence star. 

    • Advisor: Eugene Magnier

        Lowell Observatory, Summer REU Program, 1998

  • Performed precision time series photometry and analyzed power spectra to identify stellar rotation rates in Galactic star cluster M39. 

    • Advisor: Sydney Barnes

     TEACHING EXPERIENCE

    Lecturer

        UCLA, Division of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2006 - 2008

     

  • UCLA Outstanding Teaching Award for Astro 278, December 2008.

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  • Taught a 10-week graduate seminar course (Astronomy 278) on learner-centered astronomy education to 15 students, spring quarter 2008.  Full course responsibility: developed curriculum and in-class exercises, led discussions.

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  • Taught the 10-week introductory non-major course (Astronomy 3) to 200+ students, winter quarter 2007.  Full course responsibility: developed curriculum, wrote exams, lectured and supervised seven TAs.

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  • Designed and developed a suite of nine learner-centered labs for the one-quarter introductory astronomy course, Astronomy 3. 

    • Instructor

        University of California, Berkeley, Astronomy Department, summer 2004

     

  • Taught the 6-week introductory non-major course (Astronomy 10) to 25 students, summer term 2004.  Full course responsibility: developed curriculum, wrote exams, lectured and supervised two graders.

    • Graduate Student Instructor

        University of California, Berkeley, Astronomy Department, 1999 - 2001

     

  • GSI ("TA") for the 15-week infrared laboratory course for astrophysics majors.  Trained the 14 students on the 30-inch telescope, wrote one of the five observing labs, delivered approximately one-fourth of the lectures, and graded student lab "articles."  Autumn 2001.

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  • UC Berkeley Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, May 2001.

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  • Head GSI of Prof. Alex Filippenko's popular introductory non-major course (Astronomy 10), with 700+ students.  Conducted two recitation sections of ~30 students each, delivered three lectures, organized 28 recitation sections & 10 GSIs and supervised six graders.  Autumn 2000.

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  • GSI for the 300+ student introductory non-major, 15-week course in planetary science (Astronomy 12).  Conducted two recitation sections of ~30 students each, and graded written exams.  Spring 2000.

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  • GSI for Prof. Filippenko's 700+ student, 15-week Astronomy 10 course.  Conducted two recitation sections of ~30 students each.  Autumn 1999.

    • Teaching Assistant

        University of Washington, Astronomy Department, 1998 - 1999

     

  • TA for the 200+ student, 10-week introductory non-major course in astronomy (Astronomy 101).  Conducted two recitation sections of ~30 students each per quarter, presented planetarium shows, and graded written exams.  Autumn 1999 and spring 1999.

    •  ADVISING EXPERIENCE
  • Kathy Kornei, graduate student, UCLA
    Extragalactic Star Clusters, 2007-
  • Emily Rice, graduate student, UCLA
    Introductory Astronomy Lab Development, 2006-2009
  • Rick Kirian, undergraduate student, UC Berkeley
    Near-Infrared Spectral Atlas of Supergiant Stars, 2005-2006
  • Christopher Sheehy, undergraduate student, UC Berkeley
    Adaptive Optics Photometry in Crowded Fields, 2005-2006
    •  PUBLICATIONS Please see my detailed publication list. GRANT HISTORY
  • NSF Standard Grant, Co-P.I., 2006
    $13,640 -- NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellows Symposium
    Grant No. 0701849

  • NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, P.I., 2005
    $201,000 -- Super Star Clusters and Galaxy Evolution
    Grant No. 0502649

  • Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 14, Co-I., 2005
    17 Orbits -- Sizes, Shapes, and SEDs: Searching for Mass Segregation in the Super Star Clusters of Nearby Starburst Galaxies
    GO-10609

  • Instructional Minigrant, sole author, 2000
    $570 -- To develop spectroscopy lab for introductory astronomy course, UC Berkeley
    • INVITED LECTURES
  • UC Berkeley Adaptive Optics Seminar, "PSF Variation and Crowded Field Photometry with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics," Berkeley, CA, October 2008
  • Northern Arizona University Colloquium, "Young Massive Clusters: Building Blocks of Galaxies," Flagstaff, AZ, February 2008
  • UCLA Astronomy 274 Guest Lecture, "Star Formation and Starburst Galaxies," Los Angeles, CA, March 2007
  • UC Santa Cruz FLASH Talk, "Massive Young Star Clusters in the M82 Starburst at High Resolution," Santa Cruz, CA, April 2005
  • SOFIA Colloquium, "Evidence for IMF Variations in M82 Super Star Clusters," Sunnyvale, CA, August 2004
  • UC Berkeley Astronomy 292 Guest Lecture, "Gravothermal Catastrophe: The formation of black holes in star clusters and connection to IMBHs," Berkeley, CA, March 2004
  • CFHT Colloquium, "Super Star Clusters in the M82 Starburst: A Newborn Globular Cluster Population?," Waimea, HI, July 2003
    •  COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
  • Referee for The Astrophysical Journal, Nature and The Astronomical Journal
  • Proposal reviewer, National Science Foundation Individual Investigator Grants Program (AST Division)
  • Postdoctoral representative, departmental faculty meetings, UCLA, September 2008 - present
  • Local Organizing Committee member, ASP Cosmos in the Classroom Conference, Pomona, CA, August 2007
  • Scientific Organizing Committee co-chair, NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellows Symposium, Seattle, WA, January 2007
  • Graduate student representative, Faculty Search Committee, UC Berkeley, September 2003 - March 2004
  • Undergraduate representative, Departmental Curriculum Review Committee, Univ. of Washington, January - March 1999
    •  EDUCATIONAL AND PUBLIC SCIENTIFIC OUTREACH
  • Ventura County Astronomical Society, guest speaker, Moorpark, CA, November 2008
  • The History Channel, "The Universe: Biggest Things in Space" (one-hour episode), April 2008
  • Santa Monica Amateur Astronomy Club, guest speaker, Santa Monica, CA, November 2007
  • The History Channel, "The Universe: Alien Galaxies" (one-hour episode), July 2007
  • Ventura County Astronomical Society, guest speaker, Moorpark, CA, June 2007
  • Public planetarium shows, presenter, UCLA Planetarium, Los Angeles, CA, 2006
  • Project ASTRO, Highland Elementary School, Richmond, CA, 2001 - 2002
  • Rural Girls in Science Program, guest speaker, Pack Forest, WA, July 1999
  • Pine Mountain Observatory, public observing session, Millican, OR, July 1997
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    PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES AND SCHOOLS

  • Center for Adaptive Optics Fall Retreat, Lake Arrowhead, CA, November 2008
    AO Imaging in Crowded Fields: Dense Star Clusters (contributed talk)
  • Keck Observatory Science Meeting, Santa Cruz, CA, September 2008
    Stellar Populations and the Dissolution of Star Clusters (contributed talk)
  • From Taurus to the Antennae (Conference), Sheffield, UK, August 2008
    Stellar Populations of Young Massive Clusters at High Spatial Resolution (contributed talk)
  • 211th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Austin, TX, January 2008
    Stellar Populations and the Dissolution of Super Star Clusters (contributed talk)
  • Young Massive Star Clusters: Initial Conditions and Environments Workshop, Granada, Spain, September 2007
    Probing Super Star Clusters with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (contributed talk)
  • Cosmos in the Classroom 2007, Pomona, CA, August 2007
    Hands-On Lab Exercises to Develop Student Conceptual Understanding of Introductory Astronomy (invited workshop)
  • 5th Annual Symposium of the NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellows, Seattle, WA, January 2007
    Probing Super Star Clusters with Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (contributed talk)
  • 205th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, San Diego, CA, January 2005
    The Super Star Cluster Population of the M82 Nuclear Starburst: Masses, Luminosities and the IMF" (contributed talk)
  • Keck Observatory Science Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, September 2004
    The IMF in M82 Super Star Clusters, A Population Study (contributed talk)
  • Starbursts -- From 30 Doradus to Lyman Break Galaxies, Cambridge, UK, September 2004
    IMF Variation in M82 Super Star Clusters, A Population Study (contributed talk)
  • 201st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Seattle, WA, January 2003
    Super Star Clusters in M82: Young Globular Clusters? (updated poster)
  • Keck Observatory Science Meeting, Berkeley, CA, October 2002
    Super Star Clusters in M82: Young Globular Clusters? (poster)
  • Center for Adaptive Optics Summer School, Santa Cruz, CA, August 2001
  • Center for Star Formation Studies Workshop, Santa Cruz, CA, July 2001
    Kinematics of stars and gas at 12.6 pc resolution in the starburst nucleus of M82 (poster)
  • BIMA Millimeter Interferometry Summer School, Hat Creek, CA, June 2000
  • UW Undergraduate Research Symposium, Seattle, WA, May 1999
    Transitional Young Stellar Objects: Cosmic Debutantes (poster)
  • Lowell Observatory Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Flagstaff, AZ, August 1998
    Rotational Evolution of Young, Solar-Type Stars: An Observational Study of the Open Cluster M39 (contributed talk)
    • TELESCOPE EXPERIENCE
  • W. M. Keck Observatory, 10-meter infrared/optical, Mauna Kea, HI
  • NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), 3-meter infrared, Mauna Kea, HI
  • BIMA Array, 10-antenna millimeter interferometer, Hat Creek, CA
  • UASO 12-meter, millimeter, Kitt Peak, AZ
  • Lick Observatory, 3-meter infrared/optical, Mt. Hamilton, CA
  • Hubble Space Telescope, 2.4-meter infrared/optical, orbiting
  • Leuschner Observatory, 0.8-meter infrared/optical, Lafayette, CA
  • Manastash Ridge Observatory, 0.8-meter optical, Ellensburg, WA
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