Mx .   W. J.  Brennom

Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs

Physical Science Technician at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

B.A. with High Honors in Politics, and Physics-Astrophysics

Oberlin College and Conservatory, Class of ‘23

ABOUT BRENNOM

I am a Physical Science Technician in the division for Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and work primarily with analysis of hot Jupiter systems and their demographics. I am presently working with several mentors and collaborators to create a homogeneously analyzed dataset of, eventually, the entire hot Jupiter population. I am also engaged in a project identifying and confirming white dwarf companions to hot Jupiter systems, in order to better constrain their age, evolutionary history, and— potentially— composition. This is in pursuit of developing a better understanding of the formation mechanisms, population dynamics, and evolutionary history of these peculiar worlds. 

Before my present position, I attended Oberlin College and Conservatory, graduating with a B.A. in Physics-Astrophysics, and a B.A. with high honors in Politics in May of 2023. I have extensive cross-disciplinary research experience, including law, astrophysics, and quantitative political science. My skills are diverse, from competency with Python 3 and the Ubuntu Linux distribution, to analysis of political messaging and the strategy associated with it. I have experience in instruction, as a lab instructor for physics and astronomy students at Oberlin College, as a grader, and even as a guest facilitator for a class session at Harvard University. Group leadership and direction have been a consistent feature of my work: I have led initiatives doing such diverse work as conceiving of and drawing together the HJ-WD collaboration mentioned above, leading the development of my research project at Georgia State University in the summer of 2022, distributing grants to organizations doing transformative social justice work in the Minneapolis-St. Paul community, and reorganizing the institutional structure of the Sunrise chapter in Oberlin, OH to better direct advocacy on climate action.

I am currently actively applying to pursue my PhD in astronomy, with a focus on exoplanets, their populations, and their demographics. If you are interested in discussing this, or my past work, research, or leadership positions, please contact me with the “Contact Me” button on this website or at the contacts provided in my CV, which is attached below. I’d love to be in touch.

Curriculum Vitae

Professional Experience

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, with Dr. Samuel Quinn

Physical Science Technician (2023-Ongoing)

  • Devise and participate in new research projects, write the requisite observation proposals, present preliminary findings at conferences, and write the subsequent scientific papers. 

  • Network and collaborate on these projects with colleagues, bringing in researchers with diverse experience to create novel analytical and research routines to best utilize available data to further knowledge of exoplanet populations and their formation and evolution pathways.

  • Use quantitative coding experience to write analytical codes to apply to various projects and streamline analysis pipelines.

  • Review and prepare CHIRON spectra and associated calculated data for upload to ExoFOP.

Georgia State University Department of Physics and Astronomy, with Dr. Russel White

REU Researcher (2022-2023)

  • Co-lead research into the properties and nature of the red giant population in the Ruprecht 147 open cluster.

  • Analyze echelle spectra of identified red giant stars in Ruprecht 147 for spectral types and content.

  • Survey literature to consolidate all available information on the cluster via VizieR, ArXiV and other literature databases. 

  • Become certified to operate Apache Point Observatory’s 3.5m telescope. (Operated ARCES and KOSMOS spectrographs.)

  • Use Python 3 to write analytical codes to derive identify cluster membership of red giant candidates, and independently estimate age, radius, temperature and mass of these stars.

Oberlin College and Conservatory Department of Physics and Astronomy, with Dr. Christina Smith and Prof. Melinda Keller

Homework Grader and Lab Assistant (2021-2022)

  • Grade assignments of students in elementary physics classes, and provided feedback to improve student comprehension.

  • Assist professors in lab sections, answering student questions and helped with lab setups.

  • Assist students in their applications of physical theory to real-world situations and phenomena.

Other Research Experience

Oberlin College and Conservatory Department of Politics, with Dr. Amanda Zadorian

Honors Politics Researcher (2021-2023)

•Conceive of, lead, and execute a research project into neoliberal ideology’s legitimating strategy in the Cleveland area.

•Synthesize a novel theoretical approach from my own ideas and extant research on political legitimacy.

•Create a hypothesis and execute a survey to test it. (These findings ultimately supported my hypothesis.)

•Successfully defended my thesis, method and approach to a faculty panel and was awarded High Honors. 

Oberlin College and Conservatory Department of Physics and Astronomy, with Dr. Christina Smith

Research Assistant (2021-2022)

  • Analyze data from the Keck II telescope’s SPLASH survey of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).

  • Use Python 3 to write analytical codes.

  • Utilize the Ubuntu Linux distribution to run Roger Wesson’s Nebular Empirical Analysis Tool (NEAT).

Lansner and Kubitschek, with J.D. Carolyn Kubitschek

Intern Case Assistant for Oberlin College’s SOAR micro-internships (2021)

  • Analyze court transcripts and identify important details and lines of inquiry.

  • Investigate state and national legal statutes to elucidate precedent and resources for the case.

  • Cross reference provided documents with established facts of the case. 

Talks and Presentations

Towards a Hot Jupiter Population  Reanalysis: 20 Reanalyzed Hot Jupiters iPoster Presentation at AAS 245 (2025)

•Present the final results of the preliminary hot Jupiter reanalysis paper at AAS 245.

•Demonstrate advantages of using homogeneously collected data sources, and highlight specific improvements in parameter accuracy, ephemerides, and posterior presentation.

•Identify future research paths, alterations to analytical and fitting routines to optimize speed and accuracy, and reference other projects this paper spawned. 

Hot Jupiter Population  Reanalysis: An Initial Sample Poster Presentation at TSC3 (2024)

• Presented preliminary results of the hot Jupiter reanalysis project at TESS Science Conference 3. 

• Demonstrated the advantages of using homogeneously collected data sources (e.g. TESS light curves, uniformly sourced photometry, etc.) and highlighted specific improvements in measures of eccentricity and circularization times.

• Demonstrated fitting and analytical routine. 

Activity Facilitator for ‘Philosophy of Astronomy’ class at Harvard University (2024)

•Facilitated a collaborative storytelling activity for an end-of-year class session for Dr. Gerhardt Sonnert at Harvard University.

•Promoted interaction and balanced engagement across the class in the activity. 

•Created and distributed materials for the activity to sculpt a narrative arc for the students to engage with, supporting the goals of the class and previous stages of the activity.

Honors Thesis Defense at Oberlin College (2023)

  • Researched and authored a thesis as part of the Oberlin College Politics department Honors programme.

  • Synthesized a research approach fusing theoretical and empirical research methods to reduce the distance of the researcher from the research participants, and orally defended this thesis in front of a panel of faculty.

  • Received High Honors on the thesis and qualified for Highest Honors in thesis oral defense.

The Red Giants of Ruprecht 147 iPoster Presentation at AAS 241 (2023)

  • Presented research from REU opportunity at Georgia State University.

  • Synthesized an effective, less resource-intensive research methodology to estimate the age of open clusters.

  • Supported prior age estimates for the Ruprecht 147 cluster.

Final Presentation of Summer Research at Georgia State University (2022)

  • Presented in 15 minutes the research conducted over the course of the Georgia State University Physics and Astronomy REU.

  • Conveyed the research in laypersons terms for non-astronomers in the audience without diluting the substance of the research.

  • Outlined further direction for the research which later contributed to the presentation at the American Astronomical Society winter conference in 2023.

Russian Geostrategy and Military Adventurism talk with Ponsford Great Decisions (2022)

  • Explained the February Russian invasion of Ukraine in the summer of that year.

  • Synthesized Russian history and politics, and the strategic situation in Central Asia and Eastern Europe in early 2022 into a hypothesis for the reasoning behind the invasion of Ukraine.

  • Presented this information to the Great Decisions foreign policy group for Ponsford, Minnesota.

Presentation to Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) with the ACLU Summer Advocacy Institute (2018)

  • Prepared beforehand a series of points to lobby Senator Smith (D-MN) about with regards to the detention of children at the border.

  • Met with and lobbied the Senator to take an outspoken and public position against child detention, in line with the ACLU’s position on the issue.

  • Met with and spoke to a number of other Senators on the issue including Bob Corker (R-TN).

Leadership Positions

P.I. on Investigation of White Dwarf Companions to hot Jupiter Hosts (2024)

•Identify likely candidate distant white dwarf companions to hot Jupiter hosts, which may act as unique probes of the composition and history of these systems.

•Gather collaborators to the project and identify research approaches and focuses.

•Write proposals for observation time, analyze resultant data and write the subsequent scientific papers to publicize findings. 

Georgia State University Summer REU Programme (2022)

  • Co-led a project to investigate the red giants of the Ruprecht 147 Cluster. 

  • Collaborated with my faculty mentor, Dr. Russel White, and his graduate students to craft analytical codes, and craft research trajectory.

  • Collaborated with other researchers in the field to produce and publish a paper detailing our results.

Oberlin Sunrise Restructuring (2020)

  • Co-led, with one other group member, the conception and implementation of the new structure of the Oberlin College chapter of the Sunrise movement.

  • Moved the group from a working group-based format ill-suited to channel diverse interests and energies to a project-based format which effectively channeled these disparate interests into activism.

  • Advocated for the changes in an open debate, incorporated concerns into the new format and ultimately successfully implemented the novel format following a chapter-wide vote.

Co-Creator of Off The Rails Radio Program at WOBC (2019)

  • Co-led and coordinated the group of four which created the program.

  • Led meetings on future topics and the trajectory of the project.

  • Organized group work and research.

Centennial Fund Youth Led Initiative (2018-2019)

  • Co-led the project at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis to distribute $60,000 through grants to organizations doing transformative social justice work in the Minneapolis-St. Paul community.

  • Organized research into eligible organizations and the division of the grant to maximize impact.

  • Organized the group and allocated responsibilities to best execute the project at hand.

Youth Leader on St. John’s Episcopal Church’s Rector Search Committee (2018)

  • Was the youth leader on the project to call a new rector to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis.

  • Represented the concerns of the youth component of the parish in the calling process.

  • Met with candidates and provided input, as well as assisting in organizing welcome programs and serving as a point-of-contact between the parish, parish youth and candidates.

Proposals and Awards

MMT/Binospec Observations of 5 MSHJ-WD Systems (2024)

•Proposed for two nights of observation time on 5 targets for 2025A with MMT/Binospec.

Baade/MagE Observations of WASP-71 and WASP-129 (2024)

•Proposed for and received a night of observation time in 2024B on the above two targets with Baade/MagE.

Comfort Starr Award for Excellence in College Politics (2023)

  • By the decision of the Oberlin College Department of Politics, was awarded the Comfort Starr Awards thanks to outstanding work in college-level politics.

High Honors on Thesis: Stealing Speech — Discursive Motifs and Neoliberal Legitimation in the Cleveland Area (2023)

  • Successfully completed a thesis and orally defended it in front of a panel of faculty.

  • Received High Honors on the thesis document and qualified for Highest Honors in the oral defense.

Jere Bruner Research Grant (2022)

  • Was awarded the Jere Bruner Research Grant for $1,100 to fund research central to my Honors thesis for the Oberlin College department of politics.

  • Used the funds to deploy a survey in the Cleveland area on the effects of certain varieties of political messaging, ultimately collecting N=312 results.

Won the Oberlin College SOAR Social Entrepreneurship Competition (2020)

  • During the remote Oberlin College Sophomore Opportunities and Academic Resources programme, participated in the ‘social entrepreneurship’ competition.

  • With a group, created a conceptual framework to create a mobile application to facilitate mutual aid.

St. Michael’s Book Award for Social Conscience (2018)

  • By the decision of a panel of faculty at Minneapolis-Washburn high school during my matriculation there, I was awarded the student award for social conscience during my Junior year.

Education

Oberlin College & Conservatory, Oberlin, Ohio 2019-2023

B.A. with high honors in Physics with a concentration in Astrophysics, and Political Science.

3.65 GPA

Washburn High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2019

Graduated with the International Baccalaureate Diploma.