Hi! I’m Joseph (he/him), a PhD candidate and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at Boston University’s Department of Astronomy. I work in the BU White Dwarf Group with Prof. JJ Hermes where I am most focused on searching for and characterizing the oldest planetary systems in the galaxy. I am particularly interested in searching for the carcasses of tidally disrupted rocky exoplanetary bodies transiting white dwarfs. Over 40% of white dwarfs are accreting planetary material, but we have yet to complete observe how this debris is delivered to the stellar photosphere. Building a census of these transiting debris systems allows us to place constraints on the roadmaps to accretion. I also take interest in white dwarfs that vary in brightness due to other reasons, such as pulsating white dwarfs and strongly magnetic white dwarfs. I graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with degrees in Astronomy and Physics in May 2021.

Welcome to my website. Beyond my research you can find here professional documentation like my CV (updated as of March 2025) and other resources. I have many project ideas for this space that are works in progress, so whenever I get to it you will be able to find some blog posts and essays, slightly decent photographs, and maybe cooking recipes here. I sometimes play trumpet too.