Fiona Lopez

Research

• Maria Mitchell Association/Remote
  Research Assistant
  Summer 2024-Present

  I started as a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) intern at the Maria Mitchell Association during the summer of 2024. Since then I have continued working with Dr. Mónica Relaño, with whom I collaborated with there. I have been studying the interplay between dust, gas, and stars in high-redshift galaxies as part of the CRISTAL survey ([CII] Resolved ISM in Star-forming Galaxies with ALMA). This survey investigates the gas, dust, and stars in representative sample of star-forming galaxies at redshifts of z ~ 4-5 on kiloparsec-spatially resolved scales. Specifically, I utilized JWST observations to create emission line maps for two galaxies within this sample. To analyze these maps, I processed the data in Python and performed Gaussian fiting to extract emission lines. based on these emission line maps, I derived estimates of the gas, dust, and star distributions within the galaxies, all through Python. Our findings are currently being prepared for publication.

• University of Utah
  Research Assistant
  Fall 2023-Present

  I started as a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergradutes (NSF REU) intern at the University of Utah during the summer of 2023. Since then I have continued working with Dr. Daniel Wik, with whom I collaborated with there. I used NuSTAR observations of 10 relaxed galaxy clusters to measure their temperatures and compared them with measurements from Chandra and XMM-Newton in identical regions. This process involved NuSTAR observations using light curve filtering, background characterization, and global spectral extraction/fitting. All of this work was done in IDL and Xspec (spectral fitting program). Our findings are currently being submitted for publication.

• Texas A&M University
  Research student
  Fall 2022-Spring 2023

  I was in a group of undergraduate students, led by Dr. Rolan Allen, which explored the potential evidence for a dark matter particle with second-gauge couplings. I contributed in calculating the cross-section of the proposed particle using Monte Carlo integration in Python.

Publications

Outreach

• Texas A&M University

  Department of Physics & Astronomy

  I volunteered as a Physics Demo Presenter at various department outreach events, including the TAMU Physics Festival, First Friday in Historic Downtown Bryan, and the TAMU EnVision Conference. Whether engaging the local community at First Friday or contributing to our largest event, the Physics Festival, I've enjoyed sharing the excitement of physics with the community. One of my favorite demonstrations to present is the Van de Graaff generator.
  
• Maria Mitchell Association

  Loines Observatory

  I worked open nights at Loines Observatory, where I guided participants on a special evening of stargazing. On some nights, I led tours of Nantucket's night sky, helping visitors identify constellations. On other nights, I operated the 24-inch refracting telescope or the 8-inch reflecting telescope, allowing visitors to observe the Moon, stars, nebulae, and globular clusters.