Charlotte Ward

I am a postdoc in the Astro Data Lab at the Princeton University Department of Astrophysical Sciences where I work on various aspects of large-scale time-domain survey science. I am interested in multi-wavelength analysis of all kinds of variable and transient objects, and in developing techniques to best enable the community to discover and analyze these objects in the era of Rubin Observatory and the Euclid and Roman space telescopes. I am currently developing joint survey analysis techniques for combining multi-resolution optical imaging data for applications such as accurate deblending of extragalactic transients and their host galaxies, and improved extraction of galaxy properties in ultra-deep, highly blended fields.

My personal scientific focus is the study of 'state-changing' AGN, variable AGN in dwarf galaxies, and tidal disruption events using time-domain optical, infrared and radio surveys, with a particular interest in the formation and evolution of accretion disks around SMBHs. My PhD (2022) applied new image forward modeling and difference imaging methods to time-domain data from the Zwicky Transient Facility to study various interesting AGN sub-populations. My undergraduate and honors thesis work at the University of Sydney focused on fast radio bursts and pulsars. Before going into astronomy, I undertook undergraduate research at the University of Sydney Quantum Control Laboratory and the University of Sydney Institute of Medical Physics. Find out more about my current research here.