| Address: | Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) 3700 San Martin Drive Baltimore, MD 21218 |
| Phone: | (410) 338-4972 |
| Fax: | (410) 338-4767 |
| Email: | lawton[at]stsci.edu |
| Homepage: | http://www.stsci.edu/~lawton |
| 2008 – Present | Post-doc. Astronomy, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Spitzer SAGE Science Team Member Advisor: Karl Gordon |
| 2008 | Ph.D. Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM "Diffuse Interstellar Bands in Damped Lyman-alpha and Starburst Galaxies" Advisor: Chris W. Churchill |
| 2006 | M.S. Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM "Diffuse Interstellar Bands in 7 Intermediate Redshift DLAs" Advisor: Chris W. Churchill "Bulge-Disk Decomposition of SDSS Galaxies" Advisor: Nicole P. Vogt |
| 2002 | B.S. Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA "Aquisition and Analysis of CV Light Curves" Advisor: Paula Szkody "Aquisition and Analysis of RR Lyrae Light Curves" Advisor: Chris W. Stubbs |
| 2008 | International Astronomical Union Travel Grant ($495) |
| 2007 – 2008 | New Mexico Space Grant Consortium - NMSGC ($4,000) |
| 2007 | Bioastronomy Travel Grant ($1,530) Astrobiology Graduate Conference Travel Grant ($500) |
| 2005 | International Astronomical Union Travel Grant ($210) International Astronomical Union Travel Grant ($575) |
| 2004 – 2007 | NASA Graduate Student Research Programs - GSRP ($72,000, 3yr) |
| 2004 | New Mexico Space Grant Consortium - NMSGC ($4,000) |
| Awarded Time: | Apache Point Observatory (APO) 3.5 meter, 20 half-nights Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) 9.2 meter, 9 hours |
| Observed on: | APO/DIS, Manastash Ridge Observatory (MRO) |
| Analyzed and/or Reduced Data from: | QSO Spectra – APO/DIS, Keck-I/HIRES, VLT/FORS2, WHT/ISIS, VLT/UVES, & Gemini/GMOS Galaxy Spectra – APO/DIS, HET/MRS, & Keck-II/ESI Galaxy Imaging – Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), Spitzer/IRAC, & Spitzer MIPS Stellar Photometry – MRO |
| Software: | IRAF, IDL, C, Fortran, Perl, Numerical Recipes, HTML, LaTex, UNIX, Linux, Mac, Windows XP, DS9, SM, Xfig, XV, GIM2D, GAIA, & SExtractor |
| My Software: | EWlim-cal – Systematically calculates the equivalent width limit for resolved or unresolved absorption lines. The pixels are properly weighted by the instrumental profile based on the expected width of the absorption line (assuming a gaussian shape). Uncertainty in the equivalent width limit is estimated from the uncertainties in resolution of the instrument, rest full width half-maximum of the absorption line, rest wavelength of the absorption line, and the continuum fit. |
Lawton, B., Gordon, K. D., et al. 2009, in preparation; Spitzer Mega-SAGE Overview: Star Forming Regions in the Magellanic Clouds
Lawton, B., Gordon, K. D., et al. 2009, in preparation; Spitzer Analysis of HII Regions in the Magellanic Clouds: Determining a Suitable Monochromatic Obscured Star Formation Rate Indicator
Lawton, B., Rupke, D. S., Veilleux, S., Martin, C. L., Sanders, D. B., & Churchill, C. W. 2009, in preparation; Diffuse Interstellar Bands in Low Redshift Starburst Galaxies
Lawton, B., Churchill, C. W., York, B. A., Ellison, S. L., Snow, T. P., Johnson, R. A., Ryan, S. G., & Benn, C. R. 2008, AJ, 136, 994L; Limits on Reddening and Gas-to-Dust Ratios for Seven Intermediate Redshift Damped Ly α Absorbers from Diffuse Interstellar Bands
York, B. A., Ellison, S. L., Lawton, B., Churchill, C. W., Snow, T. P., Johnson, R. A., & Ryan, S. G. 2006 ApJ, 647, L29; Detection of Diffuse Interstellar Bands in the z=0.5 Damped Lyman-alpha System Toward AO 0235+164
Szkody, P., Fraser, O., Silvestri, N., Henden, A., Anderson, S. F., Frith, J., Lawton, B., Owens, E., Raymond, S., Schmidt, G., Wolfe, M., Bochanski, J., Covey, K., Harris, H., Hawley, S., Knapp, G. R., Margon, B., Voges, W., Walkowicz, L, Brinkmann, J., & Lamb, D. Q. 2003 AJ, 126, 1499; Cataclysmic Variables from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. II. The Second Year
Szkody, P., Anderson, S. F., Schmidt, G., Hall, P. B., Margon, B., Miceli, A., SubbaRao, M., Frith, J., Harris, H., Hawley, S., Lawton, B., Covarrubias, R., Covey, K., Fan, X., Murphy, T., Narayanan, V., Raymond, S., Rest, A., Strauss, M. A., Stubbs, C., Turner, E., Voges, W., Bauer, A., Brinkmann, J., Knapp, G. R., & Schneider, D. P. 2003 ApJ, 583, 902; Two Rare Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables With Extreme Cyclotron Features Identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Lawton, B., Churchill, C. W., York, B. A., Ellison, S. L., Snow, T. P., Johnson, R. A., Ryan, S. G., & Benn, C. R. 2008, submitted September 2008, Evidence of Magellanic-like Moderate Redshift HI-Rich Galaxies, in "The Magellanic System: Stars, Gas, and Galaxies", Keele University, United Kingdom, July 28 – August 1, 2008, eds. J. Th. van Loon, & J. M. Oliveira (IAU Symposium 256)
Lawton, B., Churchill, C. W., York, B. A., Ellison, S. L., Snow, T. P., Johnson, R. A., & Ryan, S. G. 2007, submitted October 2007, Searching for the Precursors of Life in External Galaxies, in "Bioastronomy 2007", San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 16 – 20, 2007, eds. K. Meech, M. Mumma, J. Siefert, & D. Werthimer, (Astrobiology Institute)
Lawton, B., York, B., Ellison, S. L., Churchill, C. W., Johnson, R. A., & Snow, T. P. 2005, A Search for Organic Molecules in Intermediate Redshift DLAs, in "Probing Galaxies through Quasar Absorption Lines", Shanghai, China, March 14 – 19, 2005, eds. P. Williams, C. Shu, & B. Ménard, (IAU Colloquium 199)
| Date | Location | Conference Title/University Name | Type | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2009 | Baltimore, MD | STScI 2009 Postdoc Talks | Talk | Spatial Analysis of Dust around LMC and SMC HII Regions |
| May 2009 | Baltimore, MD | The Search for Life in the Universe | Poster | Organics in Galaxies, as Traced by the Diffuse Interstellar Bands |
| April 2009 | Baltimore, MD | 2009 STScI/JHU Astronomy Jamboree | Talk | Star Formation Rate Indicators in the Magellanic Clouds and Organics in Galaxies |
| July 2008 | Keele, UK | IAU Symposium 251: The Magellanic System: Stars, Gas, and Galaxies | Talk | Evidence of Magellanic-like Moderate Redshift HI-Rich Galaxies |
| July 2008 | Las Cruces, NM | New Mexico State University Thesis Defense | Talk | Diffuse Interstellar Bands in DLA and Starburst Galaxies |
| April 2008 | Las Cruces, NM | Graduate Research & Arts Symposium | Poster | Searching For the Precursors of Life in External Galaxies |
| January 2008 | Austin, TX | 211th American Astronomical Society Meeting | Dissertation Talk | Diffuse Interstellar Bands in Low to Moderate Redshift Galaxies |
| July 2007 | San Juan, PR | Bioastronomy 2007 | Talk | Searching for the Precursors of Life in External Galaxies |
| July 2007 | San Juan, PR | ABGradCon | Poster | Searching for the Precursors of Life in External Galaxies |
| April 2007 | Las Cruces, NM | Graduate Research & Arts Symposium | Talk | The Search for Organic Molecules in Galaxies |
| January 2007 | Seattle, WA | 209th American Astronomical Society Meeting | Talk | Study of Diffuse Interstellar Bands in 7 Intermediate Redshift Galaxies |
| April 2006 | Las Cruces, NM | Graduate Research & Arts Symposium | Talk | The Search for Organic Molecules in Galaxies |
| March 2006 | Las Cruces, NM | New Mexico State University | Talk | The Nature of the Diffuse Interstellar Bands in Extra-Galactic Sources |
| October 2005 | Socorro, NM | NRAO – 21st Annual New Mexico Symposium | Poster | Search for Organic Molecules in Intermediate Redshift DLAs |
| August 2005 | Monterey, CA | IAU Symposium 231: Astrochemistry – Recent Successes and Current Challenges | Poster | A Search for Diffuse Interstellar Bands in Intermediate Redshift DLAs |
| April 2005 | Las Cruces, NM | Graduate Research & Arts Symposium | Poster | Searching a Low Redshift Galaxy for Organic Molecules |
| March 2005 | Shanghai, China | IAU Colloquium 199: Probing Galaxies Through QSO Absorption Lines | Poster | A Search for Organic Molecules in Intermediate Redshift DLAs |
| January 2005 | San Diego, CA | 205th American Astronomical Society Meeting | Poster | The Search for Extragalactic Diffuse Interstellar Bands via QSO Absorption Line Systems |
| November 2004 | Las Cruces, NM | New Mexico State University: Lunch Talk Series | Talk | The Search For the Ingredients of Life in Extragalactic Sources: Diffuse Interstellar Bands |
| October 2004 | Las Cruces, NM | New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Student Colloquium | Talk | Diffuse Interstellar Bands: The Search for Extragalactic Biological Molecules |
NMSU Research News: NMSU Astronomy Graduate Working at NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute
research.nmsu.edu/nl/ovprgi_newsletter_aug08.pdf
New Scientist Magazine (online): New evidence for extragalactic life-forming matter
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn12911-new-evidence-for-extragalactic-lifeforming-matter.html
Las Cruces Bulletin News Release: NMSU Astronomers at Forefront of Quasar-based Research
http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/Releases/2005/March/quasar_research.html
American Astronomical Society
American Physical Society
The Planetary Society
| Jan. 2008 – May 2008 | Astronomy Teaching Assistant | Responsible for grading work and meeting with students in a "History of Human Spaceflight" course | New Mexico State University |
| Aug. 2007 – Dec. 2007 | Astronomy Teaching Assistant | Responsible for grading online work and meeting with students via instant messenger for office hours in an "Astronomy for Educators" distance-education course | New Mexico State University |
| Aug. 2003 – May 2004 | Astronomy Head Teaching Assistant | Responsible for teaching labs to new teaching assistants and creating new labs | New Mexico State University |
| Aug. 2002 – May 2004 | Astronomy Teaching Assistant | Responsible for running a lab component to the undergrad level astronomy course, grading course material, and meeting with students during office hours | New Mexico State University |
| Aug. 2002 – May 2004 | Astronomy Campus Observatory Operator | Responsible for operating the campus observatory for two to four hours a week | New Mexico State University |
| Jan. 2002 – June 2002 | Astronomy Teaching Assistant | Responsible for running a lab component to the undergrad level astronomy course, grading course material, and meeting with students during office hours | University of Washington |
| July 2007 | Selection Committee Member, Dennis W. Darnall Faculty Achievement Award celebrating excellence in research, teaching, mentoring, and community outreach, New Mexico State University |
| Feb. 2007 – July 2007 | Plan2Plan Taskforce Member, Graduate student representative on creating a strategic plan for the university, New Mexico State University |
| Jan. 2007 – Apr. 2007 | GRAS Organizer, Help organize and run the Graduate Research & Arts Symposium, New Mexico State University |
| Oct. 2006 – July 2007 | Graduate Student Council Executive Officer, Liason with University administrators, help run Graduate Student Council meetings, and sit in on election board meetings for the collective student government, New Mexico State University |
| Oct. 2006 – July 2007 | Grad Week Organizer, Organize a week of events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Graduate School, New Mexico State University |
| July 2006 | Selection Committee Member, Dennis W. Darnall Faculty Achievement Award celebrating excellence in research, teaching, mentoring, and community outreach, New Mexico State University |
| Mar. 2006 – Oct. 2006 | Graduate Student Council Vice-President, Liason with University administrators, help run Graduate Student Council meetings, sit on the Graduate Student Council Finance Board, and sit in on election board meetings for the collective student government, New Mexico State University |
| Jan. 2006 – Apr. 2006 | GRAS Organizer, Help organize and run the Graduate Research & Arts Symposium, New Mexico State University |
| May 2005 – May 2006 | Astronomy Graduate Student Organization President, Liason between graduate students and faculty, sit in on faculty meetings, and run weekly meetings, Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University |
| May 2004 – May 2005 | Astronomy Graduate Student Organization Vice-President, Responsible for arranging outreach events between the department of astronomy and the local community, Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University |
|
Dr. Christopher W. Churchill NMSU, Associate Professor Las Cruces, NM 88003 575-646-1913 cwc[at]nmsu.edu |
Dr. Karl D. Gordon STScI, Associate Astronomer Baltimore, MD 21218 410-338-5031 kgordon[at]stsci.edu |
Dr. Theodore P. Snow UC Boulder, Professor Boulder, CO 80309 303-492-7669 Theodore.Snow[at]colorado.edu |
Dr. Sara L. Ellison UVIC, Associate Professor Victoria, BC, Canada 250-721-7737 sarae[at]uvic.ca |