David Stark

Dr. David Stark is a staff scientist in the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) team. His current functional work includes artifact identification (specifically satellite trails) and the impact of CTE on science results. Prior to joining STScI, Dr. Stark obtained his PhD in physics from UNC-Chapel Hill where he led the 21cm census for the RESOLVE galaxy survey, a volume-limited complete census of ~1500 galaxies in the z~0 universe, and conducted studies related to galaxy gas content, galaxy environments, and high velocity clouds.

Dr. Stark held his first postdoctoral position at Kavli IPMU where he worked on studies of star formation and galaxy kinematics using the MaNGA IFU survey. His next postdoctoral position was at Haverford College where he helped lead the HI-MaNGA survey, a 21cm follow-up program for the MaNGA survey using the Green Bank Telescope. Dr. Stark used this data to investigate how internal ISM conditions related to gas content, and the link between HI gas and star formation. Dr. Stark also supervised numerous undergraduate research projects and taught introductory physics. Dr. Stark was then briefly a Research Scientist at University of Washington, investigating a subclass of galaxies called breakBRDs, and he continues this work at STScI.

His primary research interests are galaxy evolution, with a focus on what regulates gas and star formation, and the influence of galaxy environments. He has a general interest in exploring new approaches to examining data sets, and implementing modern statistical methods.

Education:

PhD in  Physics, University of North Caroline, Chapel Hill
MS in Physics, University of North Caroline, Chapel Hill
BS in Physcis and Astronomy, Unversity of Maryland, College Park

Research Topics: Star Formation, Histories, and Evolution; Galaxy Groups and Galaxies; Galaxy Formation and Evolution; Interstellar Medium

Professional Websites:

Professional Website

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3746-2853