My name is Ky Putnam and I’m a first year graduate student at CU Boulder. My research interests fall within the realm of observational cosmology, though I am still exploring which avenue (data analysis, instrumentation, simulation) is right for me. I graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in physics where I conducted research in theoretical nuclear physics, quantifying uncertainty in local chiral nuclear interactions under Rodrigo Navarro Pérez. As my senior thesis I explored optical metrics for classifying relaxed galaxy clusters as a continuation of an REU with the X-ray Astronomy and Observational Cosmology research group at Stanford University under Steve Allen.
Advisor: Jack Burns
Scholastic achievements
2023 NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Thomas B. Day Award for Excellence in Physics, Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student, San Diego State University
Summa Cum Laude, San Diego State University