Sean Collins

Sean is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia (UBC), pursuing a combined honours degree in physics and astronomy. Growing up, Sean first became fascinated by the cosmos while observing the night sky in Northern Ontario. Now, he is committed to understanding the universe from a holistic point of view, ranging from black holes to exoplanet systems.

Last summer, Sean had the opportunity to work with the UBC LIGO group, where he created a codebase to simulate gravitational-wave detector signals and noise. This experience sparked an interest in science communication and the importance of engaging both academics and the general public.

This summer, Sean will work with Professor Nicolas Cowan and his group, the McGill Exoplanet Characterization Alliance. Funded by an IREx Trottier grant and a NSERC USRA, he will analyze the climates of hot Jupiters and Neptunes using data from Spitzer and JWST space telescopes. Sean is excited to explore this new research area in astrophysics while collaborating with a large, dynamic team.