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Faculty Directory

Department Chair: Raja Guha Thakurta Department Manager: Lindsay Lauver
Vice Chair: Jonathan Fortney Graduate Advisor: Libby Severson
Graduate Program Director: Andrew Skemer Department Assistant: Vacant
Undergraduate Program Director: Natalie Batalha Program Coordinator, Astrobiology Institute: Vacant
Andrew Skemer
  • Title
    • Associate Professor
  • Division Physical & Biological Sciences Division
  • Department
    • Astronomy & Astrophysics Department
    • UC Observatories
  • Phone
    831-459-5753
  • Email
  • Website
  • Office Location
    • Center for Adaptive Optics, 107
  • Mail Stop UCO / Lick Observatory
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise Astronomy, Astrophysics

Research Interests

My work involves characterizing the atmospheres of exoplanets and searching for new ones with adaptive optics imaging and spectroscopy.  To this end, I develop novel instrumentation and observational techniques to improve our ability to see very faint planets near their bright host stars.  I'm particularly in instrumentation that expands our ability to image exoplanets at a variety of wavelengths and spectral resolutions.

Biography, Education and Training

2002-2006  Swarthmore College, B.A.

2006-2011  University of Arizona, M.S. and Ph.D.

2011-2014  University of Arizona, LBTI Instrument Scientist

2014-2015  University of Arizona, Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow

2016-2019  UC Santa Cruz, Assistant Professor

2019-         UC Santa Cruz, Associate Professor