As an early universe cosmologist, I think about how the universe and everything in it came to take the form it has. My current research focuses on multiple problems in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, including understanding the hypothesized axion particle (a dark matter candidate), the aftermath of inflation, and technical issues in quantum field theory in curved spacetime. 

My Mission

Science is a collective human endeavor. My goal is to chip away at what we think we know and what we don't know in order to expand what we actually know. Traditionally my interests have been at the intersection of mathematics and descriptions of reality. I am driven by a desire to understand the extent to which mathematics can and does describe the universe, and this has lead me to explore physics as a theorist rather than an experimentalist. In the past, I have worked on problems at the intersection of (loop) quantum gravity and cosmology, including a novel approach to the cosmological constant problem.

I believe the Universe is always more amazing than we think it is.

Because science is a human endeavor, I am constantly working to ensure that everyone has an equitable opportunity to participate. As a committee chair, past ex-officio board member and past conference co-chair of the National Society of Black Physicists, I have worked hard to promote Black physicists. As an active member of the National Society of Hispanic Physicists and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in the Sciences (SACNAS), I work more broadly with other underrepresented minorities to widen participation in physics. 

I am proudly out and was a founding member of the American Astronomical Society Committee for Sexual-Orientation and Gender Minorities in Astronomy (SGMA), where I served as an executive member for six years. 

I have in the past supported peace and justice through my membership in the Jewish Voice for Peace Academic Advisory Council.

My Curriculum Vitae

My publication list etc are available in PDF form. For the most up-to-date version, contact me directly.