Curriculum Vita

Christopher Palma

Pennsylvania State University
Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics
525 Davey Laboratory
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 865-6236
cpalma@astro.psu.edu


Education:

Ph.D., Astronomy
The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 2001
"Evidence for Tidal Disruption Induced Substructure in the Outer Halo of the Milky Way Galaxy"
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Steven R. Majewski

M.A., Astronomy
The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 1997

B.S., Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 1994

Positions Held:

Lecturer and Outreach Fellow, Pennsylvania State University, 2003 - present
Postdoctoral Scholar, Pennsylvania State University, 2001 - 2003
Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia, 1995 - 2001
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Pennsylvania State University, 1993 - 1995
Undergraduate Research Assistant, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, summer 1994

Observing Experience:

CTIO Blanco 4m imaging with Mosaic - 2 nights
Keck I spectroscopy with HIRES - 2 nights
Hobby-Eberly Telescope spectroscopy with LRS/MOS - 4 queue programs
WIYN spectroscopy with Hydra - 8 nights classical, 2 queue programs
KPNO 0.9m imaging with Mosaic - 4 nights
LCO Swope 1m imaging - 7 nights
Palomar 1.5m imaging - 4 nights

Teaching Experience:

Lab Director, Mission to Mars summer camp for 4th to 8th graders, Pennsylvania State University 2004 - 2005
Instructor, Astro 10: Elementary Astronomy, Pennsylvania State University, 2004
Lead Instructor, Astro 597A: Stars & Planets for Science Teachers, Pennsylvania State University, 2003 - 2005
Instructor, Astro 293: Observing Laboratory for Majors, Pennsylvania State University, 2002, 2003
Astronomy Tutor for Student-Athletes, University of Virginia, 1998 - present
Head Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia, 1996 - 1997
Instructor, Introduction to Cosmology, University of Virginia, summer 1996
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Virginia, 1995 - 1996

Honors/Recognitions:

University of Virginia Z Society Shannon Award, 2001
Election to University of Virginia Raven Society, 2000
University of Virginia Dean's Fellowship, 1999-2000
Recipient of a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research, 1998
University of Virginia DuPont Graduate Fellowship, 1997-1998
University of Virginia Dean's Fellowship, 1997-1998
University of Virginia Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, 1997

Professional Societies/Committee Service:

Co-chair, Penn State Eberly College of Science Outreach Council
Director, Penn State Inservice Workshops in Astronomy 2002 - present
Member, Twin Tiers Challenger Learning Center Education Committee 2003 - present
Member, Penn State Astronomy & Astrophysics Outreach Committee 2003 - present
President, UVa Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Council 1999 - 2000
Member, UVa Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Council 1998 - 1999
Member, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, 1994 - 2001
Member, American Astronomical Society, 1997 - present
Member, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 1995 - present
Member, Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association, 2004 - present


Invited Talks

Friedman Lecture, "Galactic Cannibals," Pennsylvania State University, Fall 2003
Penn State Mars Society, "Observing Mars from Your Backyard," Pennsylvania State University, Spring 2004
Science Symposium Keynote Lecture, "Galactic Cannibals," Chesapeake Bay Governor's School, Spring 2004

Refereed Publications

Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars: VIII. The Velocity Dispersion Profiles of the Ursa Minor and Draco Dwarf Spheroidals at Large Angular Separations Munoz, R. R., Frinchaboy, P. M., Majewski, S. R., Kuhn, J. R., Chou, M.-Y., Palma, C., Sohn, S., Patterson, R. J., & Siegel, M. H. 2005, ApJL, submitted (astro-ph 0504035)

Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars: VI. Extended Distributions of Giant Stars Around the Carina Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy -- How Reliable Are They?, Majewski, S. R., Frinchaboy, P. M., Kunkel, W. E., Link, R., Munoz, R. R., Ostheimer, J. C., Palma, C., Patterson, R. J., & Geisler, D. 2005, AJ, in press (astro-ph 0503627)

A Catalogue of Candidate Dwarf Galaxies in Stephan's Quintet from Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Images, Palma, C., Hunsberger, S. D., Charlton, J. C., Durrell, P. R., & Gallagher, S. C. 2003, AJ, submitted

The Multi-phase Absorption Systems Toward PG 1206+459, Ding, J., Charlton, J. C., Churchill, C. W., & Palma, C. 2003, ApJ, 590, 746

Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars IV: The Extended Structure of the Ursa Minor Dwarf Spheroidal, Palma, C., Majewski, S. R., Siegel, M. H., Patterson, R. J., Ostheimer, J. C., & Link, R. 2003, AJ, 125, 1352

The Beginning of the End: Hubble Space Telescope Images of Seyfert's Sextet, Palma, C., Zonak, S. G., Hunsberger, S. D., Charlton, J. C., Gallager, S. C., Durrell, P. R., & English, J. 2002, AJ, 124, 2425

Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars III: First Results from the Grid Giant Star Survey and Discovery of a Possible Nearby Sagittarius Tidal Structure in Virgo, Kundu, A. et al., including Palma, C. 2002, ApJL, 576, L125

On the Distribution of Orbital Poles of Milky Way Satellites, Palma, C., Majewski, S. R., & Johnston, K. V. 2002, ApJ, 564, 736

An Ultraviolet/Optical Atlas of Bright Galaxies, Marcum, P. M. et al., including Palma, C. 2001, ApJS, 132, 129

Spectroscopy of Giant Stars in the Pyxis Globular Cluster, Palma, C., Kunkel, W. E., & Majewski, S. R. 2000, PASP, 112, 1622

Multiwavelength Observations of the Second Largest Known FR II Radio Galaxy, NVSS 2146+82, Palma, C., Bauer, F. E., Cotton, W. D., Bridle, A. H., Majewski, S. R., & Sarazin, C. L. 2000, AJ, 119, 2068

Starcounts Redivivus: III. A Possible Detection of the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy at b=-40 Degrees , Majewski. S. R., Siegel, M. H., Kunkel, W. E., Reid, I. N., Johnston, K. V., Thompson, I. B., Landolt, A. U., & Palma, C. 1999, AJ, 118, 1709

Multiwavelength Monitoring of the BL Lacertae Object PKS 2155-304 in 1994 May: I. The Ground-Based Campaign, Pesce, J. E. et al., including Palma, C. 1997, ApJ 486, 770

Radio Constraints on Relativistic Beaming Models of BL Lacertae Objects, Kollgaard, R. I., Palma, C., Laurent-Muehleisen, S. A., and Feigelson, E. D. 1996, ApJ 465, 115

Other Publications

Galaxy Train Wrecks, Charlton, J. C., Gallagher, S. C., & Palma, C 2004, Sky & Telescope vol. 108, no. 5, p. 30

Tidal Streams around External Galaxies, Pohlen, M., Martinez-Delgado, D., Majewski, S., Palma, C., Prada, F., & Balcells, M. 2003 in "Satellites and Tidal Streams", eds. Prada et al., (San Francisco: ASP), in press (astro-ph 0308142)

GRB 021211: CTIO observations, Levan, A., Fruchter, A., Welch, D., Palma, C., Henderson, B., Siegel, M., & Burud, I. 2002, GRB Circular Network, 1758, 1

The Metallicity Distribution Function of Omega Centauri, Frinchaboy, P. M., Rhee, J., Ostheimer, J. C., Majewski, S. R., Patterson, R. J., Johnson, W. Y., Dinescu, D., Palma, C., & Westfall, K. B. 2002 in "Omega Centauri: a Unique Window into Astrophysics", eds. van Leeuwen et al., (San Francisco: ASP), p. 143

Effects of Tidal Disruption on Inferred Galactic Star Formation Histories, Majewski, S. R., Patterson, R. J., Palma, C., Westfall, K. B., Siegel, M. H., Ostheimer, J. C., Frinchaboy, P. M., Link, R., Sohn, S., Kunkel, W. E., & Johnston, K. V. 2002, in "Modes of Star Formation and the Origin of Field Populations", ed. E. Grebel, (San Francisco: ASP), p. 199

The Extended Shapes of Galactic Satellites, Majewski, S. R., Forestell, A. D., Ostheimer, J. C., Palma, C., Siegel, M. H., Sohn, S., Westfall, K. B., Patterson, R. J., Frinchaboy, P. M., & Link, R. 2002, in "The Yale Cosmology Workshop: The Shapes of Galaxies and Their Halos", ed. P. Natarajan, (World Scientific: Singapore), p. 214

Omega Centauri: Nucleus of a Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal?, Majewski, S. R., Patterson, R. J., Dinescu, D. I., Johnson, W. Y., Ostheimer, J. C., Kunkel, W. E., & Palma, C. 2000, in "The Galactic Halo: from Globular Clusters to Field Stars", eds. Noel et al., (Liege: IAG), p. 619

A Search for Tidal Stellar Debris from the Magellanic Clouds: Survey Results from the First Two Years, Majewski, S. R, Ostheimer, J. C., Kunkel, W. E., Johnston, K. V., Patterson, R. J. & Palma, C. 1999, in "IAU Symposium 190: New Views of the Magellanic Clouds", eds. Chu et al., (San Francisco: ASP), p. 508