May 2, 2022
Grace Chesmore, a fifth-year PhD student in the Department of Physics, and Celeste Keith, a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, will conduct research at Fermi National Laboratory as part of the Department of Energy's Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program.
Chesmore and Keith are among 80 graduate students nationwide to receive supplemental funds to conduct part of their thesis research at a host Department of Energy laboratory in collaboration with a DOE scientist. The program provides support for travel to and from the laboratory, as well as a monthly stipend for living expenses for the students to spend three to twelve consecutive months onsite.
“For decades, DOE has cultivated the expertise to meet the nation’s greatest scientific challenges. Now more than ever, we need to invest in a diverse, talented pipeline of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who will be the future science and innovation leaders of this country,” said Under Secretary of Science and Innovation Dr. Geraldine Richmond. “I’m thrilled these outstanding students will help us tackle critical research at our labs, and I know their futures are bright.
Grace Chesmore
Grace E. Chesmore is a fifth-year PhD student in the Department of Physics. She works in Jeff McMahon’s experimental cosmology lab and is a part of the Simons Observatory and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaborations. Her work focuses on characterizing and modeling complex optical systems for millimeter-wave experiments. This fellowship supports her research characterizing feedhorn detectors for current and upcoming cosmic microwave background experiments including Simons Observatory and CMB-S4. Working with Dr. Sara Simon at Fermi National Accelerator Lab, Chesmore will continue developing the feedhorn tester facility at FNAL.
photo credit: Marta La Rocca
Celeste Keith
Celeste Keith is a fourth-year graduate student in Astronomy and Astrophysics. She is working with Professor Dan Hooper on high energy particle astrophysics, primordial black holes, and cosmology. Specifically, she just completed work exploring template analysis of primordial black holes as dark matter, and will next be exploring millisecond pulsars as the source of the cosmic ray excess. Outside of academia, she likes to run, rock climb, and play board games.