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

DateTimeSpeakerLocation
May 14, 202611:00amAnna Wright (CCA)SERF 383
May 8, 202611:00amPranav NagarajanSERF 383
Apr 30, 202611:00amNatsuko YamaguchiSERF 383
Apr 16, 202611:00amDaichi TsunaSERF 383
Apr 9, 20261:00pmPratik Gandhi (Yale; virtual)SERF 383

Past Talks

AY 2025–26 — Winter 2026

DateTimeSpeakerLocation
Mar 26, 202611:00amNoah WolfeSERF 383
Mar 19, 202611:00amSthabile KolwaSERF 383
Mar 12, 202611:00amAyush Pandhi (McGill; virtual)SERF 383
Mar 5, 20261:00pmAnirudh Prabhu (Princeton)SERF 383
Feb 26, 202611:00amAnayaSERF 383
Feb 20, 202611:00amVic Dong (CIERA)SERF 383
Feb 19, 20261:00pmKaley Brauer (Harvard; virtual)SERF 383
Feb 12, 202611:00amJared Goldberg (CCA)SERF 383
Jan 29, 202611:00amShanika GalaudageSERF 383

AY 2025–26 — Fall 2025

DateTimeSpeakerLocation
Dec 18, 202511:00amWei-Xiang FengSERF 383
Dec 4, 202511:00amSten DelosSERF 383
Nov 10, 202511:00amSilvia & Thibault (MPIA)SERF 383
Nov 6, 202511:00amDani Marin PinaSERF 383
Oct 30, 202511:00amAndrew RobertsonSERF 383
Oct 23, 202511:00amKiril MaltsevSERF 383
Oct 16, 202511:00amStorm CollomsSERF 383
Oct 9, 202511:00amKetan Rikame (Raman Research Institute)SERF 383
Oct 2, 202511:00amArtem AguichineSERF 383
Sep 25, 202511:00amReinhold Willcox & Bethany LudwigSERF 383

AY 2025–26 — Summer 2025

DateTimeSpeakerLocation
Aug 29, 202511:00amFloor Broekgaarden (GWTC-4 update)SERF 383
Aug 13, 20252:00pmChin Yi TanSERF 383
Aug 1, 202511:00amAthira Menon (Columbia University)SERF 383

AY 2024–25 — Spring 2025

DateTimeSpeakerLocation
Jul 30, 202511:00amRuggero VailliSERF 383
May 22, 20253:00pmSam Ponnada (Caltech)SERF 383
May 1, 20253:00pmMaya Silverman (UC Irvine)SERF 383
Apr 24, 20253:00pmIsabel Sands (Caltech)SERF 383
Apr 17, 20253:00pmJunyang LuSERF 383
Apr 3, 20253:00pmSandip Roy (Princeton)SERF 383
Mar 27, 20253:00pmSteffani GrondinSERF 383
Mar 20, 20253:00pmMarko RisticSERF 383

AY 2024–25 — Winter 2025

DateTimeSpeakerLocation
Mar 13, 202510:00amDevontae BaxterSERF 383
Mar 6, 202510:00amVincent LeeSERF 383
Feb 27, 202510:00amEthan NadlerSERF 383
Feb 20, 202510:00amFloor BroekgaardenSERF 383
Feb 13, 202510:00amShasha AraniSERF 383
Jan 30, 202510:00amTyler SmithSERF 383
Jan 23, 202510:00amAna LamSERF 383

AY 2024–25 — Fall 2024

DateTimeSpeakerLocation
Dec 12, 202410:00amKyle RochaSERF 383
Dec 5, 202410:00amBrenna MocklerSERF 383
Nov 19, 202410:00amTatsuya Akiba & Angel HernandezSERF 383
Nov 12, 202410:00amLucas de SáSERF 383
Nov 7, 202410:00amFulya KirogluSERF 383
Oct 31, 202410:00amNewlin WeatherfordSERF 383
Oct 24, 202410:00amAmedeo RomagnoloSERF 383
Oct 16, 202410:00amGeoffry MoSERF 383
Oct 3, 202410:00amFloor BroekgaardenSERF 383