email: shigdon_AT_georgiasouthern.edu
I have the following qualifications
B.Sc. Physics (Hons), Leeds University, U.K.
M.A. Peace Studies, Bradford University, U.K.
M.Sc. Radio Astronomy, Jodrell Bank, Manchester University, U.K.
Ph.D. Astronomy, Southampton University, U. K.
I adopt a multi-wavelength approach, spanning the X-ray through radio portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, to study star formation and the nature of the inter-stellar medium in galaxies both in the local and distant (early) universe. These studies address questions such has how do galaxies form and how do they evolve, how do you trigger star formation and how do you quench it? In particular I like to look at galaxies in groups that are undergoing tidal interactions and creating new tidal dwarf galaxies. I am currently involved in two major projects:
ALFALFA (Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA) uses the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico and is a survey of the atomic hydrogen (HI) content of 30,000 galaxies. The survey hopes to discover some dark galaxies and I hope to find new tidal streams and tidal dwarf galaxies. I am co-PI of an NSF project called the a ALFALFA Undergraduate Team. Students from GSU and 13 other colleges across the US are given the opportunity to join a world-class research team. Undergraduates progress through operating the telescope and reducing the survey data to presenting results from their own summer research experience at our annual workshop at Arecibo.
SAINTS (Star Formation in Nearby Tidal Streams) is a NASA Spitzer Space Telescope project surveying merging galaxies. We combine infrared/optical/UV/radio images with optical and infrared spectra to search for tidal dwarf galaxies and study their characteristics such as their size, age and star formation histories.
We live in warm Statesboro in Georgia. Our physics department has a planetarium . Mrs Becky Lowder organizes lots of excellent events, for example, there are free shows on the last Friday of every month.
