Casey Brinkman

Casey Brinkman explores the diversity of rocky exoplanet compositions through observational planet and host star characterization. Her research so far questions the existence of super-Mercuries, explores the possibility of gaseous envelopes around small planets, and suggests a direct relationship between planet composition and host star abundances. She uses ground-based high-precision RV instruments, space-based transit photometry, and geologically-motivated planetary interior modeling to measure the densities and iron core/rocky mantle ratios for Earth-sized planets across the galaxy. Casey recently joined McGill as a Trottier Space Institute Fellow in 2025 working with Prof. Nicholas Cowan.

Casey received her Ph.D from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in August 2024, working with Profs. Daniel Huber and Lauren Weiss. Her dissertation, “Planets Made of Star Stuff” suggests that most Earth and Super-Earth sized exoplanets have Earth-like compositions, showing less diversity than previously thought. Before she became an exoplaneteer, she received a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Vermont in 2017, where she conducted Pulsar research with Profs. Joanna Rankin and Dipanjan Mitra. She also worked at the Berkeley SETI Research Center, studying pulsars and fast radio bursts.