Keynote Speaker: Sarah Ballard, Ph.D. Department of Astronomy, University of Florida

Title: Directions to the Nearest Alien Earthlike Planet

https://www.drballard.space/

Overview

Sarah Ballard is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. She earned her undergraduate degree in astrophysics at UC Berkeley in 2007, before attending Harvard University for her Ph.D. Ballard discovered a love of exoplanet research there, and was advised by Dave Charbonneau. She earned her doctorate in 2012, and went next to the University of Washington as a NASA Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowship. Ballard was then a Torres Fellow for Exoplanetary Science at MIT from 2015 until 2019, when she came to the University of Florida to be an assistant professor.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Harvard, 2012
• B.Sc., UC Berkeley, 2007

Research

Ballard is interested broadly in observational studies of exoplanets. She used to focus upon individual characterization of new planets, but her perspective has grown wider as the number of known exoplanets has grown to the thousands. Ballard's research program centers now upon statistical studies of exoplanet populations, with a particular focus upon planetary systems orbiting small stars. We know now that these types of stars, most numerous themselves in the Milky Way, are also the likeliest to host small planets. Ballard aims to answer whether there exists a “typical” planetary system around these types of stars, and whether that blueprint is amenable to the evolution of life. To that end, she has led studies and advised students to address: the diversity of planetary systems orbiting M dwarfs, links between late-stage planet formation and the observed yield of the Kepler mission, what NASA’s TESS mission can hope to detect orbiting nearby small stars, on what timescales these planetary systems are dynamically stable, and whether these planets typically host large, extended atmospheres. She is also involved in the MINERVA-Australis project, an observatory in Australia built to gather both radial velocity and photometric observations of new exoplanet systems (with a particular eye toward systems recently uncovered by TESS).

Time: 2-3 p.m.

Where: Trustee Boardroom, Vaughn Center, 9th floor

Please direct questions to Alex Landy at jlandy@ut.edu.

View the 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium program.

Poster Presentation

Time: 3-5 p.m.
Where: Crescent Room, Vaughn Center, 9th floor

UTampa College of Natural and Health Sciences faculty members will serve as judges to evaluate the quality of the research presented by students. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the top presentations at the end of the poster presentations.

The posters will be judged by faculty based on the following criteria:

1. Clear focus or central research question/problem statement
2. Sound research methodology
3. Clear presentation of results/product/performance or expected outcome and ability to answer questions
4. Progress on the project to date
5. Contribution to the field or discussion of the potential impact

Suggested Presentation Guidelines

The purpose of the poster should be to engage audience members in a discussion of the research. The poster should be no larger than 3 feet tall by 4 feet wide. Easels with boards will be provided to display the posters. Posters should have a title and list of authors and their affiliations at the top. The body of the poster should be self-explanatory and include an appropriate balance of text and graphics in describing the research project or activity. Graphic components may include data tables, graphs, photographs or diagrams and should be labeled to communicate their significance.