CAREER: Survival of the Privileged: Exploring the conditions that allow supermassive black holes and minority physicists to thrive

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Dr. Kelly Holley-Bockelmann (Vanderbilt University) will execute an integrated research plan to address several problems that are at the forefront of supermassive black hole research: 1. How supermassive black holes merge, 2. How supermassive black hole growth is influenced by the galaxy environment, and 3. How gravitational wave recoil impacts supermassive black hole growth. Models are needed to understand how this effects black hole growth from the earliest stages in low mass galaxies and how this changes the demographics of supermassive black holes. This work leverages existing Vanderbilt resources, including a 1400-node supercomputer center, and combines high-performance computing, and extensive data mining to test and develop a comprehensive theory for the evolution of supermassive black holes.In addition, Dr. Holley-Bockelmann will execute a comprehensive plan that will address the underrepresentation of women and minorities in astrophysics. The plan includes: 1) increased access to computational resources, tools, and training; 2) a formal network of peer-to-peer mentoring; 3) research experiences that are individually tailored to the student and integrate with the research goals listed above; 4) enhanced training for minority high school teachers; and 5) increased science learning opportunities for minority high school students. These goals will be accomplished though a partnership with Fisk University, a Historically Black University, located just 1.5 miles from Vanderbilt. Dr. Holley-Bockelmann will teach a computational "boot camp" course on the Fisk campus to entering graduate students. Dr, Holley-Bockelmann will also directly coordinate a program to use rocketry as a means to train Fisk students pursuing high school teacher certification. The modules developed by the students will be field-tested in local high schools, and the data on the efficacy of this program will constitute a thesis in Astronomy Education, by a Fisk or Vanderbilt student.