Physics and Astronomy Department
Congratulations to Brent Shapiro-Albert ’16, who has won the 2016 Chambliss Astronomy Award of the American Astronomical Society, the professional society for U. S. astronomers. Brent was awarded the prize for the research he presented at the January 2016 meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Prizes are awarded by judges from the professional astronomy community, based on posters presented by the undergraduates at the meeting. Brent is one of only 8 undergraduates from across the country who received this prestigious award. He is the first Union College student to receive the award. He will receive a Chambliss medal.
Brent’s poster, “Modeling Pulsar Trajectories to Determine Birth Locations,” described his senior thesis work in the Department of Physics and Astronomy with Professor Gregory Hallenbeck. Brent began his research last summer when he was chosen as a research intern in the Cornell University Department of Astronomy. He was awarded one of 8 research slots at Cornell from a pool of over 300 applicants from across the US. He has continued his work on pulsars as his senior thesis. He is studying the trajectories of pulsars, dense stellar remnants, to determine where they formed in our Galaxy.
Brent is planning to attend graduate school in astronomy after graduating from Union in June.
