Dr. Travis A. Berger
Astronomical Data Scientist
- RESEARCH INTERESTS : Stars and Exoplanets
- GRADUATE WORK : Astronomy (Ph.D.), University of Hawai'i
- ALMA MATER : Astrophysics (BS), UNC Chapel Hill
Welcome to my research webpage. I'm currently an Astronomical Data Scientist at Space Telescope Science Institute working on the Guide Star Catalog for HST, JWST, and the upcoming Roman Space Telescope. When I find time to do research I have been using Gaia to precisely constrain host star properties to reveal the demographics of transiting planets. I've participated in a wide variety of research projects in a number of astronomical fields, from the analysis of spectra of main sequence stars within our galaxy to spectra of blue supergiants in other galaxies. I have also dabbled a bit in radio astronomy. Outside of work, I enjoy running, hiking, drinking craft beer, watching Carolina basketball, playing video games, and fiddling with technology. If you would like to know more about what I do, including some of my published papers, please keep scrolling!
I am currently in the Data Management Division of the Space Telescope Science Institute, where I work as a member of the Catalog Science Branch. Much of our work centers around supporting and improving the data products at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). My particular work centers on the Guide Star Catalog, which is currently being used by HST and JWST and will be used by the Roman Space Telescope after it launches. The Guide Star Catalog serves as an important reference for these space telescopes to ensure they are pointing correctly at their targets when carrying out meticulously planned observations.
During my NPP fellowship, I investigated transiting exoplanet demographics, focusing on planets discovered with the NASA Kepler, K2, and TESS missions. Mainly, I used Gaia DR3 parallaxes and photometry to homogeneously constrain fundamental stellar and exoplanet parameters. I focused mostly on the exoplanet radius gap, defined by a lack of planets with radii 1.8 times the radius of Earth, and its origin. I also investigated the diagnostic strength of [Y/Mg] as an age indicator for F, G, and K-type host stars.
NPP First Author Papers:
My work in grad school comprised a number of projects, from analyzing lithium in Kepler planet host star atmospheres to determine their relative ages and finding evidence that small planets decrease in size as they age (Berger et al. 2018a), to analyzing the spectra of A supergiant stars in IC 1613, a local group dwarf irregular galaxy, to investigate the galactic chemical evolution of the galaxy (Berger et al. 2018b). My dissertation, Precise Demographics of Kepler Exoplanets in the Gaia Era, focused on using Gaia DR2 to revise Kepler radii (Berger et al. 2018c) and fundamental stellar properties (Berger et al. 2020a) to investigate Kepler exoplanet demographics as a function of stellar mass and age (Berger et al. 2020b).
Grad First Author Papers:
Other Noteworthy Papers:
Successfully defended my dissertation on the demographics of Kepler exoplanets using Gaia while publishing three first-author papers (Revised Radii, GKSPC I, and GKSPC II) which can be found at the above links.
Completed and published first (Identifying Young Kepler Planet Host Stars from Keck-HIRES Spectra of Lithium) and second (Quantitative Spectroscopy of Supergiants in the Local Group Dwarf Galaxy IC 1613: Metallicity and Distance) year research projects, succeeded in required and relevant coursework, and passed the qualifying exam.
Completed an Undergraduate Honors Thesis (The Skynet Algorithm for Single-Dish Radio Mapping) and graduated with Highest Honors and highest distinction (GPA > 3.80).
