This page contains examples of Undergraduate Theses from students who have graduated with research distinction in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
All undergraduate theses completed at The Ohio State University are stored at the Knowledge Bank at OSU Libraries and can be accessed via their Search Interface.
2021 Graduates
Abigail Aronica
Building a New Galactic Synthesis Model to Aid in the Detection of Exoplanets
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Scott Gaudi, Department of Astronomy
Devin Bennett
Comparison of the Chemical Evolution of Simulated Milky-Way Type Galaxies
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Johnson, Department of Astronomy
Collin Christy
Classifying Stellar Variability in the V and g bands with the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Krzysztof Stanek, Department of Astronomy
Evan Fitzmaurice
Migration and Stability of Multi-Planet Circumbinary Systems
Project Advisor: Dr. David Martin, Department of Astronomy
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Scott Gaudi, Department of Astronomy
Jessica Kulp
Recreating the "Origins of the Elements" Planetarium Show and Curriculum Module
Project Advisor: Dr. Wayne Schlingman, Department of Astronomy
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Richard Pogge, Department of Astronomy
Lily Loyer
Analyzing Unusual Stars in Kepler
Project Advisor: Dr. Mathieu Vrard, Center for Cosmology and Astro Particle Physics
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Marc Pinsonneault, Department of Astronomy
Maria Pudoka
Inspecting Stellar Angular Momentum Evolution and Ages using High-Resolution Spectroscopy
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Donald Terndrup, Department of Astronomy
Michael Rothman
Biosignature Detection in Exoplanetary Atmospheres Using Monte Carlo Simulations
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Anil Pradhan and Dr. Sultana Nahar, Department of Astronomy
Robert Von Holle
Active Galactic Nuclei and the Correlated Properties of Neighboring Galaxies
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Barbara Ryden, Department of Astronomy
2020 Graduates
Serena Cronin
The Local Environments of Low-Redshift Supernovae
Project Advisor Dr. Dyas Utomo, Department of Astronomy
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Adam Leroy, Department of Astronomy
Dhvanil Desai
Galaxy Alignment with Surrounding Large-Scale Structure
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Barbara Ryden, Department of Astronomy
Conor Hayes
Spectroscopic Confirmation of Four Ultra Diffuse Galaxy Candidates
Project Advisor: Dr. Johnny Greco, Center for Cosmology and Astro Particle Physics
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Paul Martini, Department of Astronomy
Jared Kolecki
Measuring Elemental Abundances in Metal-Poor Stars
Thesis Advisors: Dr. Ji Wang and Dr. Jennifer Johnson, Department of Astronomy
Sophie Lebowitz
The Dragonfly Galaxy III. An Imposter Radio Galaxy in the High Redshift Universe
Project Advisor: Dr. Bjorn Emonts, The National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Donald Terndrup, Department of Astronomy
Jeniveve Pearson
An Analysis of the Historically Observed Period Change of UV Piscium, RT Andromedae, and XY Ursae Majoris Using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Approach
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Donald Terndrup, Department of Astronomy
Gabriela Torrini
Studying angularly extended gamma-ray sources with VERITAS
Project Advisor: David Kieda, University of Utah
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Laura Lopez, Department of Astronomy
Jack Warfield
An Intermediate-Age α-Rich Galactic Population Beyond the Solar Neighborhood
Thesis Advisors: Dr. Marc Pinsonneault and Dr. Jennifer Johnson, Department of Astronomy
2019 Graduates
Dominic Flournoy
Intrinsic Shape Alignment of Early versus Late Type Galaxies
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Barbara Ryden, Department of Astronomy
Ness Mayker
HI Balmer Jump Temperatures for Extragalactic HII Regions in the CHAOS Galaxies
Project Advisor: Dr. Danielle Berg, Department of Astronomy
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Richard Pogge, Department of Astronomy
2018 Graduates
Macy Huston
Making Microlensing Predictions With a New Population Synthesis Galactic Model
Project Advisor: Dr. Matthew Penny, Department of Astronomy
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Scott Gaudi, Department of Astronomy
Michael Macuga
The Fraction of Active Galactic Nuclei in the USS 1558-003 Protocluster at z = 2.53
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Paul Martini, Department of Astronomy
2012-2017 Graduates
Lawrence Capuder
Contribution of Solar Mass Loss to the Solution the Faint Young Sun Paradox for Physically Motivated Mass Loss Prescriptions
Thesis Advisors: Dr. Marc Pinsonneault & Dr. Scott Gaudi, Department of Astronomy
James Derrick
The Green Valley: Separating Galaxy Populations in Color-Magnitude Space
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Barbara Ryden, Department of Astronomy
Andrew Gallagher
Searching for Dark Galaxies Via Their Distorted Companions in the SDSS
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Barbara Ryden, Department of Astronomy
Zachary Hartman
Looking for the dM in sdB+dM Systems
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Donald Terndrup, Department of Astronomy
Denise Hung
Metallicities and Temperatures for Two Metal-Rich and Two Metal-Poor Galaxies
Project Advisor: Dr. Kevin Croxall, Department of Astronomy
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Richard Pogge, Department of Astronomy
Jacob Luhn
Circumbinary Planets via Microlensing
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Scott Gaudi, Department of Astronomy
Mallory Molina
Inter-Percentile Velocity Width: An Alternative Parametrization of the Velocity Field of the Broad-Line Region
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Bradley Peterson, Department of Astronomy
Elizabeth Otto
Chemical Abundances of CH Stars in Omega Centauri
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Johnson
Rachel Patton (Cannata)
Exploring Sources of Contamination in Kepler Surveys for Stellar Rotation
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Donald Terndrup, Department of Astronomy
Joseph Shulze
Characterization of LP133-373: A Double-line, Eclipsing dMe Binary
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Donald Terndrup, Department of Astronomy
Andrew Taylor
A Possible Evolutionary Channel for the Recently Discovered Class of Millisecond Pulsars in Long, Eccentric Orbits
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Todd Thompson, Department of Astronomy
Erika Wagoner
Testing Stellar Models for M Dwarfs
Project Advisor: Dr. Sarah Schmidt, Department of Astronomy
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Johnson, Department of Astronomy