MPS-Ascend: Spearheading Inclusive Mentoring and Multimessenger Training with a Census of Potential Counterpart Galaxies

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This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). PI Aaron Stemo is awarded a NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF MPS-Ascend) to conduct a program of research and activities related to broaden participation by groups underrepresented in STEM. This fellowship to Dr. Stemo supports his research project entitled "MPS-Ascend: Spearheading Inclusive Mentoring and Multimessenger Training with a Census of Potential Counterpart Galaxies", under the mentorship of a sponsoring scientist. The host institution for the fellowship is Vanderbilt University, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Jessie Runnoe.The inspiral and merger of massive black hole binaries (MBHB) - those with masses around 10 million solar masses - will produce strong Gravitational Waves (GW) that will be detectable by the upcoming Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) satellite. LISA will be able to detect GWs from MBHB up to a month before the black holes coalesce and provide parameters to identify electromagnetic counterparts in galaxy surveys. The uncertainty on these parameters is called an error volume. The PI will create a census of potential counterpart galaxies to LISA’s GW detections using an ensemble of survey data. This will address three key science goals: 1) create a framework to identify galaxy counterparts to LISA MBHB GW detections in survey data, 2) establish how depth, area, and wavelength coverage affects the ability to isolate EM counterparts to LISA MBHB GW detections, and 3) determine the likely properties of the first multimessenger detected MBHBs.The EMIT (Establishing Multimessenger Astronomy Inclusive Training ) program builds on the success of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge Program by incorporating a cross-discipline curriculum, transferable skill development, and a breadth of technical expertise training required for the future workforce, all built around a foundation of inclusive practices. Stemo will join EMIT as an MPS-Ascend Postdoctoral Fellow and will contribute to recruitment, mentoring and training of graduate studentsThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.