An undergraduate wins an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to study planetary systems around white dwarfs

Joseph Guidry is one of the recipients of the prestigious graduate research fellowships by the National Science Foundation this year. He is really excited he can continue his research on white dwarfs using ZTF, which he started during his undergraduate days at UT, Austin. We sat with Joseph to talk about his work, his love of astronomy and more.

What drew you to astronomy and the ZTF project in particular?

I became an astronomer because it’s just so fun. We get to seek out answers to grandiose, fundamental questions that everyone ponders. And then we get to relay our science through the most poetic metaphors that non-scientists can understand. It’s a good deal if you ask me.

I first started using ZTF to find variable white dwarfs during my undergrad at UT Austin with then-graduate student Zach Vanderbosch (Zach is now a postdoctoral fellow in the ZTF Group at Caltech). Through this work we more than tripled the number of white dwarfs showing transits from planetary debris produced by the tidal disruption of asteroid-sized objects.

What did this experience teach you?

This discovery thrust me into the field of remnant planetary systems around white dwarfs. I learned that these systems could be used to study the geochemical similarity between Solar System rocks and extrasolar ones. They are also living proof that many planets regularly survive post-main sequence evolution, something I had never realized was possible.

Do you plan to continue to work in the same field as a PhD student

ZTF is the best facility to detect transiting remnant planetary systems around white dwarfs, the crux of my doctoral research at Boston University. ZTF will remain my primary tool for searching for evidence of planets around white dwarfs.

How do you hope your scientific career to evolve?

I think I want to be a professor of astronomy eventually, but still being in the infancy of my scientific career I’m keeping my options open. Wherever I wind up, I hope to always engage public audiences in astronomy. To this end I am currently aiming to expand efforts to mentor Boston-based high school students in the Boston University White Dwarf group, where I plan to use ZTF light curves serve as a gateway tool for them.

What do you like to do outside of school/research?

My mom impressed her love of puzzles on me so much that we tag-team Spelling Bee and crosswords on a shared New York Times games account. I also love of cinema. I try to visit the independent Coolidge Corner Theater here in Boston as much as I can to watch independent and international films.