Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae

For a detailed PDF version of my CV, click here
For a concise PDF version of my CV, click here

Education

University of Virginia
  • Ph.D. in Astronomy (August 2011)
  • M.S. in Astronomy (May 2008)
Pennsylvania State University
  • B.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics (May 2006)
  • B.S. in Physics (May 2006)
  • Graduate of Schreyer Honors College with honors in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Research Appointments

Post-doctoral Fellow, McGill University (Sept. 2011 – present)
  • Large-area surveys for pulsars, pulsar timing, X-ray observations of neutron stars, database optimization
  • Supervised by Prof. Vicky Kaspi
Graduate Research Assistant University of Virginia/National Radio Astronomy Observatory (Aug. 2006 – July 2011)
  • Targeted and large-area pulsar surveys, pulsar populations, pulsar timing, pulsar instrumentation and data analysis
  • Specializing in globular cluster millisecond pulsars
  • Supervised by Dr. Scott Ransom
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Penn State University (October 2002 – June 2006)
  • Quasar absorption line spectroscopy, Hubble Space Telescope data analysis, photo-ionization modeling
  • Specializing in intrinsic and intervening absorption system, especially weak MgII absorbers
  • Supervised by Prof. Jane Charlton

Teaching Experience

Academic Tutor, University of Virginia Athletic Department (Oct. 2009 – May 2011)
  • Individual and small group tutor in astronomy and physics
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia (Sept. 2006 – May 2008)
  • Head TA (Fall 2007)
  • Organizing and running lab section, recitations, and review sessions
Summer Course Instructor, University of Virginia (Summer 2007)

Public Outreach Experience

The Pulsar Search Collaboratory (Summer 2007 – present)
  • The PSC recruits high school teachers and students to search for pulsars in real GBT data
  • Summer mentor, recruiter, team mentor to schools in Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, data processing
  • Wrote two introductory manuals on pulsar searching and data processing
  • Founding member
Dark Skies, Bright Kids (Sept. 2009 – Aug. 2011)
  • DSBK brings science into the classrooms of rural Albemarle county
  • Lesson plan development, in-class teacher, planetarium operator
  • Founding member
CLUSTER (Sept. 2010 – May 2011)
  • CLUSTER loans small telescopes to high school teachers
  • Trained teachers in use of telescopes, developed lesson plans
  • Founding member
NRAO May-term Institute (May 2010)
  • The May-term institute was a two week summer school for undergraduates emphasizing science and engineering skills, with a focus on minority students
  • Team mentor
West Virginia Governor's School (Summer 2009)
  • Supervised a small team of high school students as they completed an observatoinal research project

Publications and Pre-prints [ADS Author Search]

First Author
  • Lynch, R. S., Ransom, S. M., Freire, P. C. C., & Stairs, I. H. 2011, "Six New Recycled Globular Cluster Pulsars Discovered with the Green Bank Telescope", ApJ, 734, 89
  • Lynch, R. S., & Ransom, S. M. 2011, "A New Pulsar in Green Bank Telescope Searches of 10 Globular Clusters", ApJL, 730, L11
  • Lynch, R. S., Boyles, J. R., Lorimer, D. R., Mnatsakanov, R., Turk, P. J., & Ransom, S. M. 2011, "Non-Recycled Pulsars in Globular Clusters", arXiv:1101.0841
  • Lynch, R. S. and Charlton, J. C. 2007, "Physical Properties of Weak MgII Absorbers at z~2",ApJ, 666, 64
  • Lynch, R. S., Charlton, J. C., & Kim, T.-S. "A Survey of Weak MgII Absorbers at Redshift 〈z〉=1.78", 2006, ApJ, 640, 81
Other Selected Publications
  • Boyles, J., Lorimer, D. R., Turk, P. J., Mnatsakanov, R., Lynch, R. S., Ransom, S. M., Freire, P. C., & Belczynski, K. 2011, "Young Radio Pulsars in Galactic Globular Clusters", ApJ, in press, arXiv:1108.4402
  • Rosen, R., Heatherly, S., McLaughlin, M. A., Lynch, R. S., Kondratiev, V. I., Boyles, J. R., Wilson, M., Lorimer, D. R., Ransom, S. 2010, "The Pulsar Search Collaboratory", Astronomy Education Review, 9, 010106
  • Jenet, F., et al. 2009, "The North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves", arXiv:0909.1058
  • Archibald, A. M., et al. 2009, "A Radio Pulsar/X-ray Binary Link", Science, 324, 1411