karoline gilbert

I am an Assistant Astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. I am interested in the formation and evolution of galaxies. I reconstruct the history of nearby galaxies by examining their resolved stellar populations.

My trajectory

I began studying physics and astronomy at The Ohio State University, where I got my undergraduate degree, researched AGN, rooted for the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe, and learned to rock climb at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky.

I did my graduate studies in astronomy and astrophysics in the midst of the beautiful redwood forest that is the campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz. In Santa Cruz I studied the stellar halo of our neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, using Keck Observatory in Hawaii to take spectra of individual Andromeda stars. I also developed a fondness for banana slugs, trail running in a redwood forest, and skiing at Lake Tahoe.

I was a Hubble Fellow in the astronomy department at the University of Washington working on the ANGST and ANGRRR surveys. I studied the resolved stellar populations of galaxies in the nearby universe using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, and enjoyed the plethora of cultural and outdoor activites available in the Pacific Northwest.

I am now an Assistant Astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, where I work in the Instruments Division on the NIRSpec instrument team. NIRSpec is an infrared spectrograph with long slit, IFU, and multi-object capabilities that will fly as part of the suite of instruments on board the James Webb Space Telescope. On the research front, I continue to expand my studies of the stellar populations of the Andromeda Galaxy and dwarf galaxies in the Local Volume.