Our guest speaker will be Ben Bogner. His topic will be “Systematic Biases in the Rapid Sky Localization of Gravitational Waves.” What are gravitational waves, how can we detect them here on earth, and why do astronomers care? Bogner will take you through a crash course on gravitational wave theory, detection methods, and how a budding astrophysicist from Wichita collaborated with international and NASA scientists to probe the most up-to-date methods for finding gravitational waves.
Bogner graduated in December 2018 from Benedictine College in Atchison with a double major in physics and astronomy. He participated in two NASA internships as an undergraduate: one with NASA Langley Research Center and one with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He plans to use his research project and connections at NASA Goddard to support his pursuit of a Ph.D. in physics or astrophysics with a to-be-determined graduate institution. He plans to do research with NASA as a postdoctoral student for a number of years before going into academia as a university professor of physics and astronomy.