
Amy Lien
Assistant Professor
Office: GHS 637
Education and Training:
- 2005 National Central University (Taiwan), B.S. in Physics
- 2011 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D. in Astrophysics, Supernovae, Stellar evolution; with Professor Brian Fields
- 2013 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Postdoc in Time-domain astrophysics, gamma-ray bursts, early universe; with Dr. Neil Gehrels
Research Interests:
My research interests lie in understanding how the universe begins and evolves through the most energetic astrophysical explosions: gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), supernovae, merging neutron stars and black holes. My main research utilizes GRBs detected by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a multi-wavelength space telescope dedicated to studying GRBs and the transient sky. GRBs are seen from within our neighborhood of galaxies to the early universe when the rst stars were expected to form (Fig. 1). I use GRBs to explore the history of the universe, and study how nature can form these energetic bursts from either the collapse of massive stars or merging of compact objects like neutron stars and black holes.
Come talk to me if you are interested to learn more!

Christine Theodore
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Office: TECH 475
Education and Training:
- 2005 Stevens Institute of Technology, B.S. in Chemical Biology
- 2009 Stevens Institute of Technology, M.S. in Chemical Biology
- 2013 University of Oklahoma, Ph.D. in Natural Products; with Robert Cichewicz
- 2013-15 University of California, Santa Cruz, Postdoctoral in Marine Natural Products; with Phil Cruz
Research Interests:
Currently, my work focuses on isolating and identifying natural products obtained from macroorganisms (such as invertebrate animals) and microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) collected from Florida waters. Natural products, substances produced by living organisms, are an important part of the modern drug discovery process and natural products isolated from marine organisms have had success in moving from the laboratory and into clinical trials.