NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute for FY 2012 in Australia

Nielsen Nikole, Las Cruces NM

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Nikole Nielsen of New Mexico State University to conduct a research project, entitled "Gas properties in interacting galaxies using fingerprints in background quasar light," during the summer of 2012 at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. The host scientist is Michael Murphy. The Intellectual Merit of the research project is to contribute to the quest to understand the evolution of galaxies and provide key insights for understanding isolated galaxies such as the Milky Way and their histories. This is accomplished by studying the gas in galaxies - an important component of baryons in the galactic ecosystem and the fuel from which stars and planets form and evolve - and how it responds to interactions between galaxies. Because all galaxies were interacting galaxies at one point in their history, interacting galaxies provide an excellent astrophysical laboratory to observe cannibalistic events in progress and test current theories of how these events affect galaxies. Broader Impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce.