STRAND Seminar Series
About STRAND
STRAND — Simulations, TheoRy AND more — is a weekly seminar series at the UC San Diego Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics. Despite its name, STRAND covers a diverse range of topics — from supernovae, stellar evolution, and white dwarfs to gravitational-wave science, theory and simulations, cosmology, and small-scale structure. Many talks lean toward high-energy astrophysics, but we warmly welcome speakers from across all areas of astrophysics.
Talks are typically given by early-career researchers such as PhD students and postdocs on the job market. The format is flexible: either a single 20–25 minute talk with extended questions and discussion (before, during, or after — depending on what the speaker prefers), or two 25-minute talks each with 5 minutes of Q&A. Meetings are hybrid: in person in SERF 383 and via Zoom.
Organizers: Floor Broekgaarden, Kyle Kremer, Ethan Nadler, and Melanie Santiago
Organizers 2024–2025: Floor Broekgaarden, Kyle Kremer, Ethan Nadler, and Thomas Wong
When: Thursdays, 11:00am PT (time may vary — see schedule below)
Where: SERF 383 & Zoom
Astronomers are warmly encouraged to reach out to any of the organizers to schedule a talk. We also welcome requests to be added to the mailing list or to receive the Zoom link.
Current Talk Schedule — AY 2025–26 Spring
| Date | Time | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 14, 2026 | 11:00am | Anna Wright (CCA) | SERF 383 |
| May 8, 2026 | 11:00am | Pranav Nagarajan | SERF 383 |
| Apr 30, 2026 | 11:00am | Natsuko Yamaguchi | SERF 383 |
| Apr 16, 2026 | 11:00am | Daichi Tsuna | SERF 383 |
| Apr 9, 2026 | 1:00pm | Pratik Gandhi (Yale; virtual) | SERF 383 |
Past Talks
AY 2025–26 — Winter 2026
| Date | Time | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 26, 2026 | 11:00am | Noah Wolfe | SERF 383 |
| Mar 19, 2026 | 11:00am | Sthabile Kolwa | SERF 383 |
| Mar 12, 2026 | 11:00am | Ayush Pandhi (McGill; virtual) | SERF 383 |
| Mar 5, 2026 | 1:00pm | Anirudh Prabhu (Princeton) | SERF 383 |
| Feb 26, 2026 | 11:00am | Anaya | SERF 383 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | 11:00am | Vic Dong (CIERA) | SERF 383 |
| Feb 19, 2026 | 1:00pm | Kaley Brauer (Harvard; virtual) | SERF 383 |
| Feb 12, 2026 | 11:00am | Jared Goldberg (CCA) | SERF 383 |
| Jan 29, 2026 | 11:00am | Shanika Galaudage | SERF 383 |
AY 2025–26 — Fall 2025
| Date | Time | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 18, 2025 | 11:00am | Wei-Xiang Feng | SERF 383 |
| Dec 4, 2025 | 11:00am | Sten Delos | SERF 383 |
| Nov 10, 2025 | 11:00am | Silvia & Thibault (MPIA) | SERF 383 |
| Nov 6, 2025 | 11:00am | Dani Marin Pina | SERF 383 |
| Oct 30, 2025 | 11:00am | Andrew Robertson | SERF 383 |
| Oct 23, 2025 | 11:00am | Kiril Maltsev | SERF 383 |
| Oct 16, 2025 | 11:00am | Storm Colloms | SERF 383 |
| Oct 9, 2025 | 11:00am | Ketan Rikame (Raman Research Institute) | SERF 383 |
| Oct 2, 2025 | 11:00am | Artem Aguichine | SERF 383 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | 11:00am | Reinhold Willcox & Bethany Ludwig | SERF 383 |
AY 2025–26 — Summer 2025
| Date | Time | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 2025 | 11:00am | Floor Broekgaarden (GWTC-4 update) | SERF 383 |
| Aug 13, 2025 | 2:00pm | Chin Yi Tan | SERF 383 |
| Aug 1, 2025 | 11:00am | Athira Menon (Columbia University) | SERF 383 |
AY 2024–25 — Spring 2025
| Date | Time | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2025 | 11:00am | Ruggero Vailli | SERF 383 |
| May 22, 2025 | 3:00pm | Sam Ponnada (Caltech) | SERF 383 |
| May 1, 2025 | 3:00pm | Maya Silverman (UC Irvine) | SERF 383 |
| Apr 24, 2025 | 3:00pm | Isabel Sands (Caltech) | SERF 383 |
| Apr 17, 2025 | 3:00pm | Junyang Lu | SERF 383 |
| Apr 3, 2025 | 3:00pm | Sandip Roy (Princeton) | SERF 383 |
| Mar 27, 2025 | 3:00pm | Steffani Grondin | SERF 383 |
| Mar 20, 2025 | 3:00pm | Marko Ristic | SERF 383 |
AY 2024–25 — Winter 2025
| Date | Time | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 2025 | 10:00am | Devontae Baxter | SERF 383 |
| Mar 6, 2025 | 10:00am | Vincent Lee | SERF 383 |
| Feb 27, 2025 | 10:00am | Ethan Nadler | SERF 383 |
| Feb 20, 2025 | 10:00am | Floor Broekgaarden | SERF 383 |
| Feb 13, 2025 | 10:00am | Shasha Arani | SERF 383 |
| Jan 30, 2025 | 10:00am | Tyler Smith | SERF 383 |
| Jan 23, 2025 | 10:00am | Ana Lam | SERF 383 |
AY 2024–25 — Fall 2024
| Date | Time | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 12, 2024 | 10:00am | Kyle Rocha | SERF 383 |
| Dec 5, 2024 | 10:00am | Brenna Mockler | SERF 383 |
| Nov 19, 2024 | 10:00am | Tatsuya Akiba & Angel Hernandez | SERF 383 |
| Nov 12, 2024 | 10:00am | Lucas de Sá | SERF 383 |
| Nov 7, 2024 | 10:00am | Fulya Kiroglu | SERF 383 |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 10:00am | Newlin Weatherford | SERF 383 |
| Oct 24, 2024 | 10:00am | Amedeo Romagnolo | SERF 383 |
| Oct 16, 2024 | 10:00am | Geoffry Mo | SERF 383 |
| Oct 3, 2024 | 10:00am | Floor Broekgaarden | SERF 383 |