Meet the NEWTS

Benjamin Montet Bluesky Github Email

I'm the PI of the NEWTS group and a Scientia Associate Professor in the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales. I'm interested in developing data-driven methods to understand the formation and dynamics of planetary systems and how the magnetic activity of their host stars changes over time.

Tunde Akinsanmi Github Email

I am a postdoctoral researcher working on the detection and characterization of exoplanets using subtle signals hidden in their lightcurves. I'm especially interested in what these small signals can tell us about planetary shapes, atmospheres, dynamics, and evolution, using data from missions like CHEOPS, TESS, and JWST. I am also particularly interested in finding planets orbiting evolved stars and binary star systems.

Conaire Deagan Bluesky Github Email

I am a 4th year PhD candidate interested in solar-like stellar activity, Wolf-Rayet stars, exoplanets, and optical physics. I am a science member on the TOLIMAN project. Additionally, while I don't actively research SETI, it is a research interest of mine and something I like to talk about.

Margo Thornton Email

I am a second year PhD student working on discovering circumbinary planets through the apsidal precession they impart on their host stars.

Jay Rawlinson Github Email

I'm an undergrad student studying physics at UNSW. I work with data from the Kepler mission to investigate stellar activity of planet-hosting stars.

Emma Tam

I’m a third year undergraduate physics/engineering student at UNSW. I analyse TESS data, looking for exoplanets through the transit timing variations they induce on their neighbours.

Group Alumni

Adina Feinstein Website

PhD student, 2019-2022, now faculty at Michigan State

Brendan McKee Github Email

PhD student, 2023-2026, thesis on "Characterising Short-Period Exoplanets from High-Cadence Transit Photometry"

Elsa Palumbo

Undergraduate student, 2020-2022, now PhD student in Statistics and Data Science at Carnegie Mellon

Jenny Wang

Undergraduate student, 2020-2022, now a Software Engineer at Jane Street Capital.

Morgan Porritt

Undergraduate student, 2020-2022, now a Nuclear Analyst at ANSTO.

Yihong Guo Github

Honours student, 2024. I worked with TESS light curve data to investigate stellar activity cycles through flares and their relationship with different stellar parameters.

Riley White Email

Honours student, 2024. For my honours project I searched for circumbinary planets by identifying precession using a century of observational data from the DASCH archive.