{"id":8,"date":"2014-05-23T15:31:18","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T20:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2026-08-04T14:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:18:22","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”100px”][vc_single_image image=”157″ img_size=”300×300″ alignment=”right” style=”vc_box_rounded”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″]

Biography<\/h3>\n[vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

I am an astrophysicist with research interests spanning high-energy astrophysics, astroparticle physics, and observational cosmology. My work focuses on the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes and active galactic nuclei, the co-evolution of galaxies and their central black holes, and the origin and evolution of the diffuse extragalactic radiation fields from the infrared to the gamma-ray regime. I am particularly interested in the extragalactic background light, the cosmic gamma-ray horizon, and the use of high-energy observations to probe the history of star formation, black hole growth, and the large-scale evolution of the Universe.<\/p>\n

I actively collaborate on observations with a variety of ground- and space-based facilities across the electromagnetic spectrum. Among these, my long-standing favorites are the NASA missions Fermi<\/em>, Swift<\/em>, and NuSTAR<\/em>, whose complementary capabilities have been central to many of my research projects.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″]

Academic Positions<\/h2>\n
    \n\t\t\t
  • \n\t\t\t\t
    present<\/span>2024<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

    Professor<\/h4>

    Clemson University<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t

  • \n\t\t\t\t
    Present<\/span>2019<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

    Associate Professor<\/h4>

    Clemson University, USA<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>

      \n\t\t\t
    • \n\t\t\t\t
      2019<\/span>2014<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

      Assistant Professor<\/h4>

      Clemson University, USA<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>

        \n\t\t\t
      • \n\t\t\t\t
        2013<\/span>2012<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

        Research Scientist<\/h4>

        University of California, Berkeley<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>

          \n\t\t\t
        • \n\t\t\t\t
          2012<\/span>2008<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

          Research Associate<\/h4>

          Stanford University, USA<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>

            \n\t\t\t
          • \n\t\t\t\t
            2008<\/span>2007<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

            Postdoctoral Fellow<\/h4>

            Max Planck for Extraterrestrial Physics, Munich<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>

              <\/ul>[\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″]

              Education & Training<\/h2>\n
                \n\t\t\t
              • \n\t\t\t\t
                Ph.D.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t2007<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

                Ph.D. in Physics and Astrophysics<\/p>

                Technische Universitaet Munich, Germany<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>

                  \n\t\t\t
                • \n\t\t\t\t
                  M.S.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t2003<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

                  M.S. in Particle Physics<\/p>

                  University of Trieste, Italy<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>

                    \n\t\t\t
                  • \n\t\t\t\t
                    B.A. & M.S.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t2001<\/span><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

                    B.A. & M.S. in Mechanical Engineering<\/p>

                    University of Palermo, Italy<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

                    Honors and Awards<\/h3>\n[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
                      \n\t\t\t
                    • \n\t\t\t\t
                      2019<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
                      <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
                      Rising Star in Discovery Award, College of Science, Clemson<\/div>
                      \n\t\t
                      \n\t\t \n\t\t <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>
                        \n\t\t\t
                      • \n\t\t\t\t
                        2018<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
                        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
                        URSAA, Clemson<\/div>
                        \n\t\t
                        \n\t\t \n\t\t <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>
                          \n\t\t\t
                        • \n\t\t\t\t
                          2008<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
                          <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
                          Otto-Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society<\/div>
                          \n\t\t
                          \n\t\t \"image\"\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t
                          \n\t\t The Max Planck Society honors every year up to 30 young scientists and researchers with the Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements since 1978.\n\t\t <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>
                            \n\t\t\t
                          • \n\t\t\t\t
                            2003<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
                            <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
                            Fellowship of the International Max Planck Research School<\/div>
                            \n\t\t
                            \n\t\t \n\t\t <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li><\/ul>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                            [vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”100px”][vc_single_image image=”157″ img_size=”300×300″ alignment=”right” style=”vc_box_rounded”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text] I am an astrophysicist with research interests spanning high-energy astrophysics, astroparticle physics, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-pagebuilder.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4FFr4-8","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":360,"href":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions\/360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/science.clemson.edu\/cosmicorigins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}