Catriona Murray

  • CASA

Dr. Catriona Murray is a postdoctoral researcher working in Zach Berta-Thompson’s exoplanet research group. She is developing open-source software to analyze multi-wavelength photometry from ground and space-based telescopes (including JWST)! This work aims to perform detailed atmospheric characterization of exoplanets to better understand their environment and potential for life. She completed her PhD in Astrophysics in early 2022 at the University of Cambridge in the UK. She worked on the SPECULOOS (Search for habitable Planets Eclipsing Ultra-cool Stars) Project on the detection of Earth-sized planets around ultra-cool dwarfs, as well as in researching the complex (stellar) factors determining their habitability. Her dissertation is entitled “Optimising the detection of temperate, terrestrial planets with the SPECULOOS Project.