Melinda Soares-Furtado
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she/her
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Expert in stellar clusters, stars, exoplanets, and exomoons. Draws insights from ground-based and space-based observational data, as well as stellar/substellar evolutionary models.
Professor, astronomy and physics College of Letters and Science Work: 608-262-8421 — Home and cell phones available upon request mmsoares@wisc.edu Home page
Topics
- Probing the impact of planetary engulfment on stellar hosts.
- Searching for young transiting worlds and performing follow-up characterization to constrain evolutionary models.
- Age-dating stars using a combination of techniques.
- Searching for young exomoons in star-forming regions.
- Detecting and classifying periodic variable stars in open clusters.
Achievements
- NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow (2021-2024)
- Recognized for teaching and mentoring excellence (Postdoctoral Excellence in Mentoring Award and the Ron Ruby Memorial Scholarship for Teaching Excellence)
- Widely quoted and published in major national publications, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Scientific American, and Quanta Magazine.