Riley Rosener

Riley started their studies as a first-year Master’s student at the Université de Montréal in September 2025, supervised by Professor David Lafrenière. They are interested in finding new ways to detect and characterize exoplanets, and are currently working on using NIRPS radial velocity data to better constrain the masses of exoplanets around M-dwarf stars.

Riley graduated from the University of Chicago in 2024 with a B.S. in Astrophysics with Honours and a minor in History. During their undergrad, they worked with Dr. Michael Zhang and Professor Jacob Bean in modeling the detectability of atmospheric escape from exoplanets, publishing a first-author paper and writing an undergraduate thesis. Additionally, they worked as a summer intern at W.M. Keck Observatory with staff astronomer Carlos Alvarez to rewrite and update the QACITS code controlling the vector vortex coronagraph that directly images exoplanets.

They are enthusiastic about scientific outreach and teaching others about astronomy, especially underrepresented groups like the LGTBQ+ community. As the former president of UChicago’s Ryerson Astronomical Society, they led weekly observation nights operating telescopes and organized public talks by faculty to introduce others to the night sky and advise them about careers in astronomy. They are looking forward to continuing their adventures in outreach in Montréal.