CV
Sarah Greenstreet
Assistant Astronomer, NSF NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory)
sarah.greenstreet@noirlab.edu
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Astronomy & the DiRAC Institute, University of Washington
sarahjg@uw.edu
www.sarahgreenstreet.com
Current Position
Assistant Astronomer at NSF NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory)
Affiliate Assistant Professor at the University of Washington's DiRAC Institute and Department of Astronomy
September 2023-present
Focus: Orbital dynamics of small bodies throughout the Solar System (near-Earth objects, Jupiter Trojans, and Kuiper Belt Objects), main-belt asteroid resonances, co-orbital Solar System objects, impact and crater formation rates, resonant mechanisms that put asteroids on retrograde orbits, near-Earth object population modeling, the population of asteroids on orbits interior to Venus’ orbits (“Vatiras”), making orbit-fitting and integration software easy to use and validate, and more.
Previous Positions
Research Scientist at the University of Washington's DiRAC Institute and Department of Astronomy
January 2020-September 2023
Focus: Small body orbital dynamics and impacts.
Senior Researcher with B612 Asteroid Insititue, January 2018-December 2021
Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Washington's DiRAC Institute, January 2018-January 2020
Focus: Orbital dynamics problems related to NEO impact threats, NEO impact hazard mitigation, orbital dynamics of NEOs and KBOs, impact and crater formation, observations of asteroids
Postdoctoral Fellow at Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) / Postdoctoral Scholar at University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), September 2015-November 2017
Focus: NEO candidate follow-up observations, NEO follow-up/characterization with citizen science
Education
Ph.D., Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 2011-2015
Concentrations: Planetary Science, Orbital Dynamics
Thesis: Small body orbital dynamics in the Solar System: Celestial mechanics and impacts
M.S., Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 2009-2011
Concentrations: Planetary Science, Orbital Dynamics
Thesis: The orbital distribution of near-Earth objects inside Earth's orbit
B.S., Physics, Western Washington University, 2003-2007
Minors: Astronomy and Mathematics
Honors Research Project: Exploring the parameters of the linear cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy spectrum with the on-line tool CMBFAST
Publications
See publications page.
Grant awards & HONORS
Greenstreet, S. (PI), Eggl, S., Juric, M. “Rubin Rocks: Enabling near-Earth asteroid science with LSST”, NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics, Grant Period: Sept 2023 - Aug 2026, Amount: $408,862
Greenstreet, S. (PI), Juric, M., Gladman, B., “Searching for Transient Jovian Co-orbitals”, NASA Solar System Workings, Grant Period: July 2022 – June 2025, Amount: $622,866
Greenstreet, S. (PI), & Moeyens, J. (Co-I; UW graduate student), “Lowering the Barrier to Entry: Making Key Solar System Packages Easy to Install”, Preparing for Astrophysics with LSST, Heising-Simons Foundation / Las Cumbres Observatory, Grant Period: Jan 2022 – Aug 2022, Amount: $19,876, Student: Aditi Chauhan (UW postbaccalaureate student)
Greenstreet, S. (PI), & Moeyens, J. (Co-I; UW graduate student), “Lowering the Barrier for Making Discoveries with LSST: Verification and Validation for Key Solar System Orbit-fitting Software”, Preparing for Astrophysics with LSST, Heising-Simons Foundation / Las Cumbres Observatory, Grant Period: Jan 2022 – Aug 2022, Amount requested/received: $19,876/$23,876, Student: Aidan Berres (UW postbaccalaureate student; UIUC graduate student starting Aug 2022)
Hungaria asteroid (30535) 2001 OR5 named “Sarahgreenstreet”, 2021
Invited Talks & Seminars
“The Impact of Satellite Constellations on Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)” talk to be presented at the Division for Dynamical Astronomy Conference, Toronto, ON, May 2024.
“NEO Science Synergies Between NEO Surveyor and Rubin Observatory” talk to be presented at the Science with NEO Surveyor workshop, San Diego, CA, May 2024.
“Re-calculation of impact and cratering rates onto Pluto, Charon, and Arrokoth and their younger surface ages”, New Horizons Science Team Meeting, 2024.
“Interstellar Insights: SETI Experts on the Hunt for Truth Amidst Misinformation” panel at the Emerald City Comic Con, 2024.
“The Solar System’s Most Unusual Objects: The Dynamics of Inner-Venus and Retrograde Asteroids”, Washington State University, 2023.
“Interstellar Objects: Natural or Artificial?”, SETI with LSST Workshop, 2023.
“Making it easier to install, use, validate, and compare orbit-fitting software”, LSST Kickstarter Colloquium, 2022.
“Constraining planet formation using craters on Pluto and Charon”, University of Washington, 2022.
“The Solar System’s Most Unusual Objects: The Dynamics of Inner-Venus and Retrograde Asteroids”, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 2022.
“Transient Solar System Objects of Interest Expected From LSST”, National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, 2022.
“Discovering Two New Asteroid Populations”, University of British Columbia, 2021.
“Retrograde Asteroids: Going the wrong way around the Sun”, Portland State University, 2019.
“Near-Earth Asteroids on Retrograde Orbits”, NWxSW Astronomy Meeting, UBC, Vancouver, Canada, 2018.
“Small body population celestial mechanics, impacts, and observations”, Seminar Talk, California Institute of Technology, 2016.
“Small body population celestial mechanics, impacts, and observations”, Colloquium, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2015.
“From NEOs to Craters on Pluto: A Look at Small Body Populations in the Solar System”, Seminar Talk, Southwest Research Institute, 2015.
“Impact Hazard of Near-Earth Asteroids”, Time and Life in the Universe – A Roundtable Initiative, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, University of British Columbia, 2013.
“Near-Earth Asteroid Population Model: Surprises in the Inner Solar System”, Colloquium, Western Washington University, 2012.
selected media coverage
Gilchrist, Kit. “Earth’s mini-moon linked to farside lunar crater.” Sky & Telescope, 26 Apr 2024; https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/earths-mini-moon-linked-to-farside-lunar-crater/
Jain, Abha & Jain, Deepa. “Mission: asteroid crash.” Muse (science magazine for kids ages 9-16; sponsored by The Smithsonian), 1 Feb 2023; https://www.everand.com/article/623907336/Mission-Asteroid-Crash
Drake, Nadia. “Inside the hunt for mysterious ‘twilight’ asteroids.” National Geographic, 28 Jul 2022; https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/space/2022/07/inside-the-hunt-for-mysterious-twilight-asteroids
Japelj, Jure. “Galaxy Mapper Tracks Asteroids Closer to Home.” Eos (Science News by AGU), 14 Jul 2022; https://eos.org/articles/galaxy-mapper-tracks-asteroids-closer-to-home
Day, Charles. “An asteroid whose orbit is wholly within Venus’s.” Physics Today, 16 Apr 2020; https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.1.20200416a/full/
Miller, Johanna L. “Craters on Pluto and Charon show that Kuiper belt collisions are rare.” Physics Today, 72, 5, 14 (2019); doi: 10.1063/PT.3.4196; https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.4196
Kohler, Susanna. “Insights from MU69’s (Lack of) Craters.” AAS Nova, 18 Feb 2019; https://aasnova.org/2019/02/18/insights-from-mu69s-lack-of-craters/
Greene, Debra. “Scientists Share Astronomy with Public in Unusual Way on South Coast”, KCLU, 10 Mar 2017; https://www.kclu.org/term/astronomy-tap#stream/0
Byrd, Deborah. “Join Astronomers in Tracking Asteroids”, EarthSky, 30 June 2016; https://earthsky.org/space/join-astronomers-in-tracking-asteroids/
Lewis, Danny. “Track These Space Rocks From Your Couch on Asteroid Day.” Smithsonian Magazine, 30 June 2016; https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/help-scientists-track-space-rocks-asteroid-day-180959617/
University of British Columbia. “Astronomers Discover ‘Trojan’ Asteroid Sharing the Orbit of Uranus.” SciTech Daily, 30 Aug 2013; https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-discover-trojan-asteroid-sharing-orbit-uranus/
For a full list, see media coverage page.
Project Leadership and membership
Early Science with LSST Scialog Fellow (2024 – present)
American Astronomical Society Division of Planetary Sciences Professional Development Subcommittee Member (2024 – present)
Rubin Observatory Community Science Team member (2023 – present)
University of Washington’s DiRAC Institute Leadership Team member (2023 – present)
LSSTC Catalyst Fellowship mentor program participant (2022 – present)
LSST Solar System Science Collaboration (SSSC) Near-Earth Objects and Interstellar Objects Working Group Lead (2019 – present)
Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Solar System Science Collaboration (2019 – present)
Division of Planetary Sciences Full Member, American Astronomical Society (2016 – present)
Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) science team member (2016 – present)
New Horizons science team collaborator (2015 – present)
Near-Earth Space Surveillance (NESS) project science team for Canada's microsatellite NEOSSat (Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite) Co-Investigator (2013 – 2015)
Division of Planetary Sciences Junior Member, American Astronomical Society (2010 – 2015)
American Astronomical Society (2010 – present)
Professional Activities
Scientific Organizing Committee, Division for Planetary Sciences conference (2024)
Scientific Organizing Committee, Rare Gems in Big Data conference (2024)
Scientific Organizing Committee, Rubin Community Workshop (2024)
Organizer and Lead for NSF NOIRLab Solar System Interest Group (2023 - present)
Scientific Organizing Committee, Rubin Observatory Project and Community Workshop (2023)
Panelist for NASA Planetary Mission Senior Review of OSIRIS-REx (APEX) extended mission to Apophis (2022)
External referee for The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Large Program proposal call (2022)
Panel reviewer, external reviewer, and executive secretary for NASA proposal review panels (2013 - 2020)
Scientific organizing committee, Northwest x Southwest Astronomy Meeting, University of British Columbia (2018)
Division of Planetary Sciences Meeting Session Chair
Referee for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, Geophysical Research Letters, Icarus, Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, New Astronomy, Planetary and Space Science, Planetary Science Journal, and Universe (2015 - present)
Organizer for Planetary Science Journal Club, University of Washington (Fall 2022 - present)
Astronomy public talks series organizer, Las Cumbres Observatory (May 2016 – November 2017)
Seminar Chair/Organizer, Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (Jan. 2016 – November 2017)
Organizer for Planetary Journal Club, University of British Columbia (Fall 2012 – Summer 2015)
student projects & funding
2021-2022
Project: “Lowering the Barrier for Making Discoveries with LSST: Verification and Validation for Key Solar System Orbit-fitting Software”
Student: Aidan Berres (UW postbaccalaureate student; UIUC graduate student)
Software: “Orb_It” orbit integrator end-to-end testing framework
Github: https://github.com/B612-Asteroid-Institute/orb_it
Funding: Preparing for Astrophysics with LSST program sponsored by Heising-Simons Foundation & Las Cumbres Observatory, PI: Sarah Greenstreet, Amount: $23,876
Paper (in progress): Berres, A., Greenstreet, S., et al., Orb_It: A Validation Packages for Orbit Integrators, RNAAS
Conference presentation: Berres, A., Greenstreet, S., et al., “Orb_It: A Validation Packages for Orbit Integrators poster presented at the Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems conference (virtual), 2022.
AAS Journal Author Series Interview (Aidan Berres): YouTube link
Colloquium: YouTube link
Project: “Lowering the Barrier to Entry: Making Key Solar System Packages Easy to Install”
Student: Aditi Chauhan (UW postbaccalaureate student)
Software: sbpy, Find_Orb, and OpenOrb orbit integrators conda-forge feedstock updates
Funding: Preparing for Astrophysics with LSST program sponsored by Heising-Simons Foundation & Las Cumbres Observatory, PI: Sarah Greenstreet, Amount: $19,876
Colloquium: YouTube link
2020-2021
Student: Aidan Berres (UW postbaccalaureate student)
Software: “validate_findorb” end-to-end testing framework for orbit integrator Find_Orb
Github: https://github.com/B612-Asteroid-Institute/validate_findorb
Funding: B612 Asteroid Institute
Telescope Experience
Postdoctoral Fellow at LCO performing follow-up photometric and astrometric observations of near-Earth object candidates, NASA ARM targets, NHATS targets, radar targets, and Yarkovsky candidates using LCO's global network of 1.0-m and 2.0-m optical telescopes (September 2015 – November 2017)
Greenstreet, S. et al., “Detection of the Yarkovsky effect for a selection of near-Earth asteroids.” Las Cumbres Observatory, 1.0-m telescope network, 2016B, 2017AB, 2018A, Target(s): selected NEAs for which the Yarkovsky effect may be detectable, Time requested/awarded: 120 hours (2016B), 100 hours (2017AB), 80 hours (2018A)
Greenstreet, S. et al., “Rotational properties of spacecraft target asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3.” Las Cumbres Observatory, 2.0-m Faulkes North & South, 2016A, Target(s): Hayabusa 2 sample return mission target asteroid Ryugu, Time requested/awarded: 48 hours
Co-Investigator with the Near-Earth Space Surveillance (NESS) project science team for Canada's microsatellite NEOSSat (Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite), (2013 – 2015)
Greenstreet, S. et al., “Tracking of NEA Discoveries from Canada’s NEOSSat Space Telescope.”, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, Megacam instrument, 2013B, Target(s): Follow-up of NEOSSat discoveries of Aten and Atira NEOs, Time requested/awarded: 2 hours, Ranking 1/33
Completed independent studies course taken on operating the University of British Columbia Southern Observatory remote telescope on Cerro Tololo, Chile during which performed photometric and astrometric observations of main-belt asteroids (2012)
Palomar Mountain Observing Run #2503, 2010 Mar 18 – 2010 Mar 20, Telescope: P200, P.I.: Bob Jacobson, Lead Observer: Brett Gladman, Primary Instrument: LFC, Observing target: Saturnian irregular satellite discovery and tracking
Invited outreach talks
“Pluto, the Kuiper belt, and a possible new planet”, Island County Astronomical Society, May 2024.
“The Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the DiRAC Institute”, Seattle Astronomical Society, 2023.
“Pluto’s Surprising History: Findings from NASA’s New Horizons Mission”, Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics, Physics Slam competition, Jan 2023 — winner!
“Pluto, the Kuiper belt, and a possible new planet”, New Jersey Astronomical Association, 2022.
YouTube video of talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxrMBtJFqR0
"Asteroids, Orbital Dynamics, and Craters on Pluto", Woodland High School, Woodland, WA, 2019.
"Asteroids, Telescopes, and Craters on Pluto", Woodland High School, Woodland, WA, 2018.
"The Outer Solar System: Pluto and Friends", Cosmopolitan Club, Santa Barbara, CA, 2017.
“We Are the First Generation to Explore the Solar System”, Astronomy on Tap Santa Barbara, M8RX bar, 2017. YouTube video of talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKDK527LwzY (5:07 - 14:18)
KCLU (NPR for California Cost) interview for talk: http://kclu.org/term/astronomy-tap#stream/0
“The Outer Solar System: Pluto and Friends”, Astronomy on Tap Santa Barbara, M8RX bar, 2016.
YouTube video of talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOYCGw5HTUc (5:35 - 42:35)
“The Solar System's Spare Parts: Observing Asteroids & Comets” and “The Solar System's Spare Parts: Space Rocks”, Camp Cosmos, Las Cumbres Observatory, 2016.
“Pluto, the Kuiper Belt, and a Possible (new) 9th Planet”, Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit amateur astronomer monthly meeting, 2016.
“My Journey Toward Becoming an Astrophysicist”, AAUW-Bellingham High School Scholars Recognition Event, SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention, 2014.
“Asteroids, Dinosaurs, and Telescopes...Oh My!”, Career Symposium, Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School, 2014.
outreach activities
2023-2024 Speaker at Frank Love Elementary
2022-2023 Speaker at Horizon School
2019 Participant in DiRAC Institute video for Asteroid Day
2016-2017 Speaker for Astronomy on Tap events
2016-2017 Organizer for astronomy public talks series, Las Cumbres Observatory
2016-2017 Volunteer for open houses, Las Cumbres Observatory
2016-2017 Volunteer for public observing events, Las Cumbres Observatory
2016-2017 Volunteer for student science nights & science fairs, Santa Barbara, CA
2016 Leader, speaker, activity organizer/developer, & coding/robotics instructor at Camp Cosmos, LCOGT
2016 Organized/executed public asteroid tracking observing program at LCOGT for Asteroid Day
2014 Speaker at American Association of University Women (AAUW) event, Bellingham, WA
2014 Speaker at Henrietta Lacks High School career symposium
2006-2007 Volunteer for public observing nights at Western Washington University
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
See media coverage page.
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant, 2009-2010
University of British Columbia
Astronomy 101 - Introduction to the Solar System, Fall 2009
Astronomy 102 – Introduction to Stars and Galaxies, Winter 2010
Responsibilities for each course: taught a total of 65 hours for each lab section, graded lab assignments for 25-30 students for a total of ~40 hours, graded course assignments and exams for roughly 125 students for a total of ~25 hours, and invigilated the final exam.
Teaching Assistant, 2004-2007
Western Washington University
Physics 133 – Electricity & Magnetism, Fall 2004
Physics 115 – Principles of Physics I, Winter 2005
Physics 116 – Principles of Physics II, Spring 2005
Physics 233 – Waves and Optics, Fall 2005
Physics 101 – Principles of Light, Fall 2005 - Spring 2007
Responsibilities: Taught lab sections for each course (Course: Total number of labs/hours): 101: 13/800, 115: 2/120, 116: 2/120, 133: 2/120, 233: 1/60 as well as graded lab assignments for 25-35 students in each lab for a total of roughly 1,250 hours (~6 hours each week per lab).
software development & Technical Skills
Programming abilities in Python, Fortran, C, Jupyter Notebooks, Google Compute Engine, MySQL, Django, & Selenium, including test-driven development
Beowulf cluster use for numerical integration (with SWIFT-RMVS4)
IRAF, Astrometrica, and Find_Orb for photometry and astrometry
GitHub version control system
OpenOrb asteroid orbit computation software
Find_Orb orbit determination software
Development of LCO’s NEOExchange online observing portal manager, scheduler, and analyzer
Software Engineer for the Scalable Cyberinfrastructure to support Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (SciMMA) project’s hop-client, a Python library designed to streamline connecting and authenticating to HOPSKOTCH, a scalable high-throughput low-latency platform for handling real-time data streams for MMA applications
Development of ADAM (Asteroid Decision Analysis & Mapping) impact mitigation and analysis platform
Development of Canada's microsatellite NEOSSat (Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite) survey simulator (in Fortran)
Development of simulator (in Python) for NEO candidate follow-up with LCO's telescope network
Photo credit: Matt Greenstreet