Research Scientists
Colby Jurgenson
Colby is a Research Scientist in the Exoplanet group at Yale University. His main research area is instrumentation, with a focus on precise radial velocities.
Julien Spronck
Julien is a Research Scientist in the Exoplanet group at Yale University. His main research area is instrumentation, with a focus on precise radial velocities.
He is the author of refereed and proceedings papers on instrumentation, in particular on high-resolution spectrometers, optical fiber feeds, nulling interferometry and optical data storage. Current projects include:
- CHIRON: a high-resolution echelle spectrometer for the 1.5m telescope at CTIO, Chile, including the design and fabrication of a mirror-based image slicer
- FINDS: a fiber feed for the Hamilton spectrometer at Lick Observatory
- A fiber feed for the HIgh-Resolution Echelle Spectrograph (HIRES) at Keck Observatory
- Optical fiber characterization (with Zachary Kaplan)
- Doppler search around a sample of mid-to-late type F stars
- CHIRON planet search: a search for planets using the CHIRON spectrometer
Before joining Debra Fischer's group, Julien obtained his Ph.D. in applied optics at the Optics Research Group of Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. His research was focused on nulling interferometry for direct exoplanet detection. In particular, he designed and built an entirely symmetric three-beam nulling interferometer. He also owns a European and US patent on polarization nulling interferometry.
Finally, Julien Spronck is from Belgium. His hobbies include photography, rock climbing, capoeira, excellent food, and Belgian beers.
His CV, a list of publication, and other information can be found on his website at http://exoplanets.astro.yale.edu/~jspronck.
Andrew Szymkowiak
Andy is a Senior Research Scientist in the Astronomy Department at Yale University, and advisor to the Exoplanets Instrumentation group.
