U of A Astronomy Students Shine at AAS Chambliss Poster Competition

The Department of Astronomy is proud to celebrate our exceptional students who distinguished themselves at the 247th American Astronomical Society meeting in Phoenix this January, earning recognition in the Chambliss Student Poster Competition.

With over 480 students entering the competition nationally, the AAS selected just 25 winners and 21 honorable mention recipients—making each recognition a significant achievement. The University of Arizona's representation among these honorees reflects the exceptional quality of research and mentorship fostered within our astronomy program.

Read the AAS announcement here.

Rafael Bertolotto received a Chambliss Award for his outstanding poster presentation about his first PhD project, which uses data from simulations of a Milky Way-like galaxy from the FIRE collaboration to identify and track the evolution of young star clusters. The preliminary results suggest that steep variations in the density of the surrounding gas of the clusters may play an important role in destroying these clusters, which stresses the importance of taking into account the gaseous environment of such clusters in our galaxy when trying to understand their evolution.

Reflecting on the honor, Rafael emphasized the collaborative nature of the achievement: "To me, the Chambliss Award is not only mine, but also belongs to my exceptional advisors and mentors, Drs. Kate Daniel (U of A) and Sarah Loebman (UC Merced), with whom I am honored to work." He also expressed gratitude to the U of A Theoretical Astrophysics Program for supporting his participation in his first AAS meeting.

Astronomy undergrad Olivia Culbert earned an honorable mention for her presentation on analyzing core-collapse supernova dust production with JWST/MIRI, research she conducts as part of Professor David Sand's team. "My experience at the University of Arizona has been monumental in starting my research career,” Olivia said. “My advice [for other students] is to be proud of the work you do! There will always be other people that seem to be farther along than you, but that does not diminish the hard work that you do now. Keep moving forward!"

Katherine Gold, a 5th-year graduate student in Chemistry with an astrobiology minor, received a graduate honorable mention for her poster, "A Survey of H₂S (J_Ka,Kc = 1₁,₀ → 1₀,₁) in Oxygen-Rich Protoplanetary Nebulae: Sulfur Isotopic Anomalies and Neutron Capture." Working with advisor Lucy M. Ziurys, Kate's research utilized observations from the Arizona Radio Observatory's 12m telescope and Submillimeter Telescope, as well as the IRAM 30m telescope, to measure H₂S emission near 169 GHz across oxygen-rich planetary nebulae. Her analysis revealed sulfur isotopic ratios substantially below solar values, consistent with neutron-capture processing during late asymptotic giant branch thermal pulses.

Kate expressed deep appreciation for the resources and community that made her research possible: "It was so fun to see the impact of Arizona astronomy across so many talks and posters, and to be part of a community doing so much exciting research in our state. I am deeply grateful for the Arizona Radio Observatory: As a graduate student at the U of A, I have led several successful observing proposals to the 12m and Submillimeter Telescope facilities, and the resulting data enabled this poster. I am also grateful for the supportive graduate student community at Steward."

This year’s Chambliss Award recognitions are a testament the excellence of our students and the strength of the collaborative research environment at Steward Observatory that enables innovation and discovery.

Congratulations to Rafael, Olivia, Kate, and all University of Arizona students who presented their research at AAS 247. Your hard work and scientific contributions continue to elevate the reputation of Arizona astronomy on the national stage.