About Me

I am a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate at the Astronomy Department at Yale University working with Prof. Daisuke Nagai. I was born and raised in Philadelphia, where I attended a Spanish Immersion elementary and middle school and a project based high school. In May of 2021 I graduated with honors from Princeton University with a B.A. in Astrophysics and minors in Computer Science and Russian Language and Culture. I matriculated to the Yale University Astronomy Department in the Fall of 2021 to pursue my PhD in Astrophysics. My research interests broadly lay in computational cosmology. Specifically, I am interested in a wide range of topics including fast radio bursts, the circumgalactic medium, feedback in hydrodynamical simulations, and cold streams that feed star forming high-z galaxies. Outside of research I am passionate about increasing the accessibility of astronomy in the Latinx community. In my free time I enjoy baking, cooking new foods, and reading novels.

For a comprehensive overview of my research activities and more please see my:

Curriculum Vitae

Research

My general research interest is computational cosmology. I am interested in using numerical simulations and techniques to answer questions related to cosmology, large-scale structure, and galaxy formation and evolution. Here is a selection of my current and recent projects:

Fast Radio Bursts as Cosmological Probes

I am interested in using fast radio bursts (FRBs) as cosmological probes to study the intergalactic medium (IGM) and the circumgalactic medium (CGM). Most recently, I showed that FRBs are a promising observable for quantifying the baryonic effects on the matter power spectrum, with applications to weak lensing and better constraints of S8 (read here). Previously, I showed with the CAMELS project that FRBs are promising probes of the baryons in CGM and demonstrated their potential to constrain subgrid models of baryonic feedback (read here). I have also used cosmological simulations to study the contribution of the IGM (read here) to FRB dispersion measure, as well as the correlation of dispersion measure with the Compton-y parameter.

Quantifying Feedback with the CAMELS Project: The Impact of Stellar and Black Hole Feedback on Galaxy Formation and Evolution

I am also interested in understanding the meachinisms of stellar and black hole feedback themselves. I used the CAMELS project to quantify the energetics of AGN and SNe feedback and their effect on halo properties, especially the CGM gas fraction, as a function of mass and redshift (read here).

Cold Streams: The Umbilical Cord of Massive High-z Galaxies

As part of a NSF-BSF funded collaboration, I am developing high-resolution zoom-in simulations to study the interaction of cold gas streams feeding massive, star-forming, high-z galaxies with the circumgalactic medium.

Zooming in on Surfboards: Simulating the Formation of Elongated High-z Dwarf Galaxies

Recent JWST observation indicate that a vast majority of high-z dwarf galaxies are prolate in shape but cosmological simulations such as IllustrisTNG are in contention with these results. I am working on developing a suite of zoom-in simulations of high-z dwarfs with sufficient resolution to properly model stellar kinematics and 3D morphologies.

Outreach

Outside of research at Yale, I am involved in several outreach activities, highlighted here.

Leitner Planetarium and Observatory Spanish Language Public Nights

I am the creator and organizer of Spanish Language Public Nights at Leitner Planetarium and Observatory in New Haven, Connecticut. Once a semester, the planetarium hosts a night open to the public including planetarium shows in Spanish and night sky telescope viewing. I am currently working on expanding this event to happen three times a semester and develop more materials that can also be used at other facilities for similar events.

Yale SACNAS

I am the current co-president, secretary, and treasurer of the Yale chapter of the Society for Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in STEM (YSACNAS). As part of my responsibilities I help lead and organize meetings, manage the budget, and organize outreach events. I am also part of the organizing committee for the 2025 SACNAS New England Community gathering our chapter is leading and hosting at Yale.

Public Talks

I have given talks targeted towards the local New Haven community through several avenues, including at local libraries through the Yale Science in the News program, for school visits at the Leitner Planetarium, and at the after school EVOLUTIONS program of the Peabody Museum.

Teaching

While at Yale I have had the opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant as well as lead my own teaching endeavors.\ I believe that teaching is a fundamental aspect of astronomy, in letting all have the opportunity to learn about and study the universe.

I have served as a teaching assistant for the following courses at Yale University:

  • ASTR 110: Planet and Stars, Fall 2021
  • ASTR 180: Introduction to Relativity and Black Holes, Spring 2022
  • ASTR 160: Frontiers and Controversies
    in Astrophysics, Fall 2022
  • ASTR 120: Galaxies and the Universe, Spring 2023

Teaching with EduExplora

I designed and taught a two-week introductory course on Astronomy to Latin American middle schoolers and high \ schoolers visiting Yale University through the EduExplora summer program. As part of the course, students participated in several hands-on activities, including designing, buildin\ g, and launching their own stomp rockets and creating and visualizing computationally their own solar systems.

Contact Me

Please feel free to contact me via my email: isabel.medlock@yale.edu or via the form below regarding any questions, including my research and outreach activities. I especially welcome inquiries from prospective students considering applying to and joining the Yale Astronomy PhD program or working in the Nagai research group!