

Katiya Fosdick
Astrophysics Ph.D. Student
Welcome!
I am a second-year graduate student at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research working with Prof. Mike McDonald.
I am motivated to understand how galaxy-rich structures evolve from small, actively-evolving galaxy groups to massive, dynamically-relaxed galaxy clusters along the protogroup -> group -> protocluster -> cluster structure-formation chain. I have historically used the brightest galaxies in groups and clusters, brightest group/cluster galaxies (BGGs and BCGs), to classify the dynamical ages of galaxy clusters.
My research interests also include galaxy evolution and formation, BGG/BCG evolution, intracluster light, and the relationships between galaxy properties and their environments. I am excited by galaxy-galaxy interactions that fundamentally change the galaxies involved and the clusters in which they reside.
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In my free-time, I like singing opera, caring for my fish tanks, and collecting and restoring antiques.
Contact Information
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
70 Vassar Street
Office 524
Cambridge, MA, 02139
(608) 575-3183