Positions

Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, December 2021 – Present

Postdoctoral Fellow

Supervisor: Dr. Min-Kai Lin

Education

University of Arizona, August 2021

Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Collaborators: Dr. Min-Kai Lin, Dr. Paola Pinilla, Professor Kaitlin Kratter

Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, May 2015

B.A. in Physics with an Astrophysics Concentration

Minor in Computer Science

Awards

NASA Space Grant Fellowship, August 2020 – August 2021

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, August 2015 – August 2020

Postdoc Research

Postdoctoral Researcher, December 2021 – present

Star and Planet Formation Theory Group, University of Arizona

Collaborators: Dr. Min-Kai Lin, Dr. Paola Pinilla, Professor Kaitlin Kratter

• Paper #4: Found how to make planet-induced vortices survive indefinitely and ways for them to appear compact

Graduate Research Experience

Graduate Researcher, August 2015 – present

Star and Planet Formation Theory Group, University of Arizona

Collaborators: Dr. Min-Kai Lin, Dr. Paola Pinilla, Professor Kaitlin Kratter

• Paper #1: Determined vortices are weaker when triggered by realistically-grown planets
• Paper #2: Demonstrated these vortices have elongated appearances in dust observations
• Paper #3: Showed and explained why low-mass planets trigger longer-lived dust vortices than high-mass planets

Undergraduate Research Experience

Undergraduate Researcher, January 2014 – August 2015

Theoretical Astrophysics Group, Cornell University

Advisors: Dr. Diego Muñoz and Professor Dong Lai

• Utilized the Mercury package to analyze the stability of circumbinary planets with inclined orbits

LEAPS Intern (LEAPS Program at Leiden), June 2014 – August 2014

Theoretical Astrophysics Group, Sterrewacht Leiden

Advisors: Dr. Lucie Jílková and Professor Simon Portegies Zwart

• Determined which types of stellar flyby orbits can transfer objects from one disk to the other

NSF REU Intern, June 2013 – August 2013

Solar Physics Group, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Advisors: Dr. Kamen Kozarev and Dr. Kelly Korreck

• Analyzed kinematics of coronal shock waves with the goal of predicting space weather at the Earth

Undergraduate Researcher, November 2011 – November 2012

Sub-mm Instrumentation Group, Cornell University

Advisors: Professor Gordon Stacey and Dr. Thomas Nikola

• Developed a Python GUI to produce, display, and analyze spectra from the ZEUS-2 spectrometer

Publications (4 first-author, 9 total)

1. Hammer, M., Lin, M.-K., 2023, How to form compact and other longer-lived planet-induced vortices: VSI, planet migration, or re-triggers, but not feedback, MNRAS, 525, 123 (ADS link)
2. Hammer, M., Lin, M.-K., Kratter, K., Pinilla, P., 2021, Which planets trigger longer-lived vortices: low-mass or high-mass?, MNRAS, 504, 3963 (ADS link)
3. Su, K., Jackson, A., Gáspár, A., Rieke, G. et al. including Hammer, M., 2019, Extreme Debris Disk Variability: Exploring the Diverse Outcomes of Large Asteroid Impacts During the Era of Terrestrial Planet Formation, AJ, 157, 202 (ADS link)
4. Hammer, M., Pinilla, P., Kratter, K., Lin, M.-K., 2019, Observational diagnostics of elongated planet-induced vortices with realistic planet formation time-scales, MNRAS, 482, 3609 (ADS link)
5. Kozarev, K., Davey, A., Kendrick, A., Hammer, M., Keith, C., 2017, The Coronal Analysis of SHocks and Waves (CASHeW) framework, JSWSC, 7A, 32 (ADS link)
6. Hammer, M., Kratter, K., Lin, M.-K., 2017, Slowly-growing gap-opening planets trigger weaker vortices, MNRAS, 466, 3533 (ADS link)
7. Jílková, L., Hamers, A., Hammer, M., Portegies Zwart, S., 2016, Mass transfer between debris discs during close stellar encounters, MNRAS, 457, 4218 (ADS link)
8. Jílková, L., Portegies Zwart, S., Pijloo, T., Hammer, M., 2015, How Sedna and family were captured in a close encounter with a solar sibling, MNRAS, 453, 3157 (ADS link)
9. Kozarev, K. A., Raymond, J. C., Lobzin, V. V., Hammer, M., 2015, Properties of a Coronal Shock Wave as a Driver of Early SEP Acceleration, ApJ, 799, 167 (ADS link)

Talks

1. ITA Planet Formation Group Meeting: July 2024 (Heidelberg, Germany) [PowerPoint, PDF]
2. ESO Dustbusters – New Heights in Planet Formation: July 2024 (Garching, Germany) [PowerPoint, PDF]
3. UCL Planet Formation Group Meeting: July 2024 (London, UK)
4. MSSL Astrophysics Seminar: July 2024 (Surrey, UK)
5. QMUL Planet Formation Group Meeting: July 2024 (London, UK)
6. TU Delft Planet Formation Group Meeting: July 2024 (Delft, The Netherlands)
7. EAS Meeting 2024 – (Exo-)Planet formation at different stages of disk evolution: July 2024 (Padova, Italy)

1. Exoplanets and Planet Formation Workshop: December 2023 (Beijing, China) [PowerPoint, PDF]
2. CCA Planet Formation Group Meeting: October 2022 (New York City, NY) [PowerPoint, PDF]
3. Cornell Planetary Lunch: October 2022 (Ithaca, NY)
4. NCTS-ASIAA Workshop – Stars, Planets, and Formosa: August 2022 (Taipei, Taiwan) [PowerPoint, PDF]

1. MIAPP Program – Structure formation in planet-forming disks: October 2021 (Munich, Germany – online) [YouTube, PowerPoint, PDF]
2. AAS Meeting 237: January 2021 (Phoenix, AZ – online) [YouTube, PowerPoint, PDF]
3. Five Years After HL Tau: December 2020 (Santiago, Chile – online) [YouTube, PowerPoint, PDF]
4. CCA Planet Formation Group Meeting: September 2020 (New York City, NY – online)
5. QMUL Planet Formation Group Meeting: September 2020 (London, UK – online)
6. ITA Planet Formation Group Seminar: September 2020 (Heidelberg, Germany – online) [PowerPoint, PDF]

1. API Exoplanets and Disks Group Meeting: September 2019 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
2. ESO Lunch Talk: September 2019 (Garching, Germany)
3. Ringberg Castle Workshop – From protoplanetary discs to planetary systems: September 2019 (Kreuth, Germany) [PowerPoint, PDF]
4. MPIA Planet and Star Formation Coffee: September 2019 (Heidelberg, Germany)
5. Star and Planet Formation in the Southwest 2: March 2018 (Oracle, AZ) [PowerPoint, PDF]

1. Protoplanetary Disk Meeting: August 2017 (Los Alamos, NM)
2. NTU Astronomy Math Building Internal Symposium: September 2016 (Tucson, AZ) [PowerPoint, PDF]
3. Emerging Researchers in Exoplanets Symposium: June 2016 (Ithaca, NY) [PowerPoint, PDF]

1. LEAPS Symposium: August 2014 (Leiden, The Netherlands) [PowerPoint, PDF]

1. SAO Solar Physics REU Symposium: August 2013 (Cambridge, MA) [PowerPoint, PDF]

Posters

1. Hammer, M., Lin, M.-K., 2023, How to form compact & other longer-lived planet-induced vortices: VSI, planet migration, or re-triggers, but not feedback, Protostars and Planets VII, Kyoto, Japan (PDF)
2. Hammer, M., Lin, M.-K., 2022, Planet-induced vortices with the VSI, Vertical Shear Instability Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark – online (PDF)
3. Hammer, M., Lin, M.-K., Kratter, K., Pinilla, P., 2020, Planet-induced vortices: What happens if you include a realistic planet growth timescale?, Planetesimal Formation Meeting, Lund Observatory – online (PDF)
4. Hammer, M., Muñoz, D., Lai, D., 2015, Can circumbinary planets survive in inclined orbits?, Cornell Astronomy Undergraduate Research Poster Forum (PDF)
5. Hammer, M., Jílková, L., Portegies Zwart, S., 2015, Transferring Mass between Circumstellar Disks during Stellar Flybys. AAS Meeting 225, #349.02 (PDF)
6. Hammer, M., Kozarev, K. A., Korreck, K. E., 2014, Kinematics of Waves in the Solar Corona: Analyzing Potential Shock Waves to Predict Solar Energetic Particle Fluxes in Space Weather. AAS Meeting 223, #158.02 (PDF)
7. Hammer, M., et al. 2014, The Cornell Astronomical Society: The Student Experience of Running an Observatory. AAS Meeting 223, #160.03 (PDF)

Workshops

1. ComSciCon Flagship Workshop: August 2021 (Cambridge, MA – online)
2. Alan Alda Science Communication Workshop: February 2019 (Tucson, AZ)
3. NExSS Winter School - Planetary Habitability: February 2016 (Oracle, AZ)
4. NExScI Sagan Summer Workshop - Exoplanetary System Demographics: July 2015 (Pasadena, CA)

Outreach

Graduate

1. Author, Astrobites: December 2015 - present
   (i) Wrote 27 bites, (ii) Advertising chair, (iii) Social media chair
2. Instructor, UA Sky School: August 2019 - August 2020
   Facilitating elementary school student teams in conducting their own three-day research projects
3. Teacher-in-training, ISEE Professional Development Program: March 2019 - June 2019
   Taught full-day inquiry-based activity to undergraduate summer research students in AstroCom NYC
4. Teaching Astronomer, Project ASTRO: September 2017 - May 2018
   Taught several classes of 7th grade students astronomy-themed activities
5. Speaker, Astronomy on Tap: May 2018
   Gave a public talk on obstacles for forming planets

Undergraduate

1. Contributing Author, ZME Science: September 2014 - January 2015
   Wrote three popular science articles on astronomy
2. Outreach Coordinator, Cornell Society of Physics Students: January 2012 - January 2015
   (i) Organized outreach events, (ii) Recruited students for events, (iii) Managed website
3. President, Cornell Astronomical Society: June 2013 - June 2014
   (i) Ran weekly stargazing nights, (ii) Gave public lectures, (iii) Set up Astro. Dept. events
4. Writer, The Triple Helix: Science in Society Journal: August 2011 - December 2011
   Wrote one article for Spring 2012 issue