Hi! My name is Max, or M, and my pronouns are they/them/theirs. I am a first year PhD student and Rackham Merit Fellow at Univeristy of Michigan - Ann Arbor in the Astronomy department. I recently completed my undergrad at University of Wisconsin - Madison with a B.S. in Astronomy-Physics. I am interested in studying exoplanets and the stars that they orbit. See my Research page to read more about what I've been working on!
Outside of research, I enjoy teaching and outreach. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to explore that aspect of my interests while an undergrad, and that work is better detailed in my C.V. page. As someone who grew up in a rural area and who holds various marginalized identities in higher ed, it is especially important to me that I play a role in increasing the accessibiltiy and equitabilty of education, and astronomy, for the next generation of scientists.
While I am the type of person to make astronomy my entire personality, I do have passions outside of academia. The image below displays some of my interests. As a kid, I was always into creating. When I wasn't being challenged academically, I could be found doodling in the margins of every notebook I owned. While I don't draw as often anymore, I still engage in other forms of art, as shown in the upper left ("Kindness Rock" that I painted recently in my craft group) and bottom left (my favorite crochet project to date) below. I also love that I get to make my own body into artwork through tattoos and piercings.
When I'm not doing art or working, I can be found one of two places: hanging out with my friends' cats (and my friends, too, but isn't that cat so precious!), or going to concerts.
