Welcome to my Website!
I'm Ronan Kerr, and I'm a PhD student studying Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. My primary research interests cover star formation and stellar populations. Current research projects synthesize these interests, using data from the Gaia spacecraft to reveal young stars and associations, and by extension gain insight into star formation patterns and mechanisms. The overarching goal is to comprehensively map star formation histories in the solar neighborhood, and learn how star formation processes interconnect and propagate.
I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia and completed my undergraduate degree in Combined Honours in Physics and Astronomy at the University of British Columbia in 2019, before moving to Austin, TX for my PhD. Aside from my research activities, I have been consistently involved in outreach programs, and greatly value public engagement with astronomy and science in general. Outside of academia, I enjoy stargazing and amateur astronomy, and I'm also an active (albeit beginner) astrophotographer!
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If anything here interests you, feel free to contact me!
EDUCATION
ACADEMIC INTERESTS
Observational Astronomy
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Star Formation
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Stellar Populations
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Early Evolution of Stellar and Planetary Systems
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Outreach
2014-2019
University of British Columbia
Bachelors Degree, Combined Honours Physics and Astronomy
2019 - Present
University of Texas at Austin
PhD Candidate, Astronomy