CV

Abridged CV below. Full CV can be found here.

Contact Information:

Astrophysics Research Centre
Queen's University Belfast
Belfast BT7 1NN
UK

Email: m.schwamb 'at' qub.ac.uk / mschwamb.astro 'at' gmail.com

Phone: +44 2890 975046

Education

  • December 2021 – Postgraduate Certification in Higher Education Teaching - Queen’s University Belfast
  • June 2011 – Ph.D., Planetary Science – California Institute of Technology, Thesis: ‘Beyond Sedna: Probing the Distant Solar System’, Advisor: Michael E. Brown
  • June 2008 – M.S., Astrophysics – California Institute of Technology
  • May 2006 – B.A., Physics – University of Pennsylvania, Summa Cum Laude with Distinction in Physics

Awards & Honors

  • 2019 - AURA Science Award
  • 2017 – Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science (American Astronomical Society, Division for Planetary Sciences)
  • 2015 – WIRED Innovation Fellow
  • 2013-2015- Academia Sinica Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 2012 – Kavli Fellow, Kavli Frontiers of Science Japanese-American Symposium
  • 2010-2013 – NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 2009 – NASA Earth and Space Sciences Fellowship
  • 2006 – Reed Fellowship, California Institute of Technology
  • 2005 – Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship
  • 2002-2006 – University Scholar Honors, University of Pennsylvania

Employment & Positions Held

  • 2024-present - Reader, Queen's University Belfast
  • 2023 - 2024 - Senior Lecturer, Queen's University Belfast
  • 2019 - 2023 - Lecturer, Queen's University Belfast
  • 2016 – 2019 – Assistant Scientist, Gemini Observatory, Northern Opertations Center
  • 2013 - 2016 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Academia Sinica
  • 2010- 2013 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University
  • 2009 – Graduate Teaching Assistant, California Institute of Technology
  • 2006 - 2010 – Graduate Research Assistant, California Institute of Technology
  • 2005 – Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Summer REU Program Intern

Selected Professional Activities

  • 2022 - Liverpool Telescope Time Allocation Committee
  • 2020-2022 - Rubin Observatory Survey Cadence Optimization Committee (SCOC)
  • 2020-2022 - Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) User Group Member
  • 2020-present - LSST:UK Solar System Science Point of Contact & Affiliate PI
  • 2018-2023 - Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Science Advisory Committee Member
  • 2018-2021 - Gemini Observatory LSST Transient Follow-up Focus Group Member
  • 2017-present - Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Solar System Science Collaboration (SSSC) Co-Chair – the SSSC is one of the eight active LSST Science Collaborations
  • 2017-2019 - AAS World Wide Telescope Steering Committee Member
  • 2017-2019 - Gemini Observatory GNIRS (Near InfraRed Spectrograph) instrument team member
  • 2017-2019 - Gemini Observatory NIRI (Near InfraRed Imager and spectrograph) instrument scientist and instrument team lead
  • 2016-2017 - Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) Light curves Working Group Team Lead
  • 2014-present – Member of the Zooniverse collaboration. The Zooniverse builds and hosts the largest collection of online citizen science projects
  • 2014- present – Member of the Col-OSSOS collaboration
  • 2014-2022 – Collaboration member of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS)
  • 2013-present – Planet Four Science Team Member
  • 2011-2015 – Planet Hunters Project Scientist

Selected Outreach Activites

  • February 2023: Co-organizer of Northern Ireland Science Festival Events: Queen's Astronomy Day
  • February 2019: Co-organizer of Northern Ireland Science Festival Events: Queen's Astronomy Day and An Evening of Astronomy At Queen's: Astronomy Question Time & Star Watch
  • 2016-2019: Organizing Gemini Observatory blog series: Get to Know Gemini, a monthly blog series to highlight the different types of jobs and people behind Gemini observatory, and Gemini’s 12 Days of Solstice Advent Calendar.
  • Frequent contributor to the blogs, for the Planet Four projects previously for the Planet Hunters and projects, communicating to the public the progress and science resulting from these citizen projects.
  • Co-Founder of Astronomy On Tap public astronomy lecture series consisting of short talks by astronomers and planetary scientists held in local bars.
  • Co-founder and previous co-curator until 2020 of the curated twitter account Astrotweeps, launched in January 2014, where each week a different astronomer or planetary scientist takes hosts the account engaging with over 10,000 followers.