Sarah Tuttle, PhD

Education: 

2004 – 2010 PhD in Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY, “The FIREBall Spectrograph Concept, Design, Flight, and Results”

M.S. in Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 

M.Phil in Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 

2001 B. Sc. in Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz 


Research Experience: 

2016 - Present Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Dept. of Astronomy, Seattle, WA

2021 (ongoing) Deputy Director for Science, NASA WA. Space Grant

2018 - Present SDSS-V Fiber Scientist, Sloan Digital Sky Survey V, Pasadena, CA

2016 - Present Instrument Scientist, Apache Point Observatory 3.5m, Sunspot, NM

2012 – 2016 VIRUS Instrument Scientist & LRS2 Project Scientist, Research Associate, McDonald Observatory, Austin, TX 

2010 – 2012 VIRUS Detector Lead, Postdoctoral Researcher, McDonald Observatory, Austin, TX 

2005-2010 Thesis: The FIREBall Spectrograph: Concept, Design, Flight, and Results Advisor: David Schiminovich 

2003-2004 Research Associate, Columbia University Cataloguing extended sources in MAGPIS (with D. Helfand) Z Cam type

Cataclysmic Variables (with J. Patterson) 

2001-2002 Research Scientist, Add Vision, Scotts Valley, CA. I designed and built the first screen printed polymer LED 

1998-2000 Research Assistant for Sue Carter, Physics Dept., UCSC, Thesis: Building an All Polymer Opto coupler 

Current Funding:

“Using "BlueBRD" Galaxies to Quantify Quenching”, National Science Foundation, $656,538, Duration: 2018-2022, S. Tuttle (PI)

Past Funding:

“Defining the Dark: Quantifying Lyman a Emitters to Map Diffuse Extended Gas”, Royalty Research Fund (UW), $36,072, Duration: 2019-2020, S. Tuttle (PI)

“Epistemological Schemata of Astro|Physics: A Reconstruction of Observers”, FQXI Foundational Questions, $101,000, Duration: 2016-2018, C. Prescod-Weinstein (PI) and S. Tuttle (Co-I)


Patents:
US Patent No. 7,115,216 : “Screen Printable Electroluminescent Polymer Ink”, Susan A. Carter, J. G. Victor, Sarah Tuttle, and Jane Breeden (Filed 2002, Issued 2006) 

Selected Research Papers

SDSS-V Algorithms: Fast, Collision-Free Trajectory Planning for Heavily Overlapping Robotic Fiber Positioners, Sayres, C., Sánchez-Gallego, J.R., Blanton, M.R., Araujo, R., Bouri, M. Grossen, L, Kneib, J., Kollmeier, J., Kronig, L., Pogge, R.W., Tuttle, S., The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 161, (2021)

Testing fiber tapers for use in the SDSS-V Focal Plane System, Tuttle S., Farr, E., Poppett, C., Jurgenson, C., Sánchez-Galleog, J., Fischer, D., Petersburg, R., Pogge, R., Kollmeier, J., Proceedings of the SPIE,  (2020)

The breakBRD Breakdown: Using IllustrisTNG to Track the Quenching of an Observationally Motivated Sample of Centrally Star-forming Galaxies, Kopenhafer, C., Starkenburg, T.K., Tonnesen, S., Tuttle, S., The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 903, Issue 2, (2020)

BreakBRD Galaxies I: Global Properties of Spiral Galaxies with Central Star Formation in Red Disks, Tuttle, S., Tonnesen, S.Astrophysical Journal, 889, 188 (2020)

VIRUS early installation and commissioning, Tuttle, S. E., Hill, G. J., Vattiat, B. L., Lee, H., Drory, N., Kelz, A., Ramsey, J., Peterson, T., Noyola, E., DePoy, D. L., Marshall, J.L., Chonis, T. S., Dalton, G., Fabricius, M., Farrow, D., Good, J. M., Haynes, D. M., Indahl, B., Jahn, T., Kriel, H. N., H., Montesano, F., Prochaska, T., Allen, R. D., Landriau, M., MacQueen, P. J., Roth, M. M., Savage, R., Snigula, J. M., Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 9908 (2016)

VIRUS: first deployment of the massively replicated fiber integral field spectrograph for the upgraded Hobby-Eberly Telescope, Hill, G. J., Tuttle, S. E., Vattiat, B. L., Lee, H., Drory, N., Kelz, A., Ramsey, J., Peterson, T. W., DePoy, D. L., Marshall, J. L., Gebhardt, K., Chonis, T., Dalton, G., Farrow, D., Good, J. M., Haynes, D. M., Indahl, B. L., Jahn, T., Kriel, H., Montesano, F., Nicklas, H., Noyola, E., Prochaska, T., Allen, R. D., Bender, R., Blanc, G., Fabricius, M. H., Finkelstein, S., Landriau, M., MacQueen, P. J., Roth, M. M., Savage, R. D., Snigula, J. M., Anwad, H., Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 9908 (2016)

The construction, alignment, and installation of the VIRUS spectrograph, Tuttle, S. E., Hill, G. J., Lee, H., Vattiat, B., Noyola, E., Drory, N., Cornell, M., Peterson, T., Chonis, T., Allen, R., Dalton, G., DePoy, D., Edmonston, D., Fabricius, M., Haynes, D., Kelz, A., Landriau, M., Lesser, M., Leach, B., Marshall, J. Murphy, J., Perry, D., Prochaska, T., Ramsey, J., Savage, R., Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 9147 (2014)

Initial results from VIRUS production spectrographs, Tuttle, S. E., Allen, R. D., Chonis, T. S., Cornell, . E., DePoy, D. L., Hill, G. J., Lee, H., Marshall, J. L., Prochaska, T., Rafal, M. D., Savage, R. D., Vattiat, B. L., Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 8446 (2012) 

VIRUS: production of a massively replicated 33k fiber integral field spectrograph for the upgraded Hobby-Eberly Telescope, Hill, G. J., Tuttle, Sarah E., Lee, H., Vattiat, B. L., Cornell, M. E., DePoy, D. L., Drory, N., Fabricius, M. H., Kelz, A., Marshall, J. L., Murphy, J. D., Prochaska, T., Allen, R. D., Bender, R., Blanc, Guillermo, Chonis, T., Dalton, Gavin, Gebhardt, K., Good, J., Haynes, D. Jahn, Thomas, MacQueen, P. J., Rafal, M. D., Roth, M. M., Savage, R. D., Snigula, Jan, Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 8446 (2012)

Spectroscopy and the Age of Giant Telescopes, Tuttle, S., Frank N. Bash Symposium New Horizons In Astronomy, Proceedings of Science, October 2011

FIREBall: the first ultraviolet fiber fed spectrograph, Tuttle, S. E., Schiminovich, D., Grange, R., Rahman, S., Matuszewski, M., Milliard, B., Deharveng, J., Martin, D. C., Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 7732 (2010) 

FIREBALL: detector, data acquisition and reduction, Rahman, S., Matuszewski, M., Tuttle, S. E., Vibert, D., Milliard, B., Schiminovich, D., Martin, D. C., Frank, S., Evrard, J., Mirc, F., Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 7732 (2010)

FIREBALL: the Faint Intergalactic medium Redshifted Emission Balloon: overview and first science flight results, Milliard, B., Martin, D. C., Schiminovich, D., Evrard, J., Matuszewski, M., Rahman, S., Tuttle, S., McLean, R., Deharveng, J., Mirc, F., Grange, R., Chave, R., Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 7732 (2010)

Selected Community & Climate Writing

The James Webb Space Telescope Needs to Be RenamedPrescod-Weinstein, C., Tuttle, S., Walkowicz, Lucianne, Nord, B., Scientific American, (March 1, 2021) 

Reframing astronomical research through an anticolonial lens - for TMT and beyond, Prescod-Weinstein, C., Walkowicz, L.M., Tuttle, S., Nord, B., and Neilson, H.R. Astro2020 White paper, by request, arXiv:2001.00674 (2020)

Astronomical community: The power of being counted, Tuttle, S., Nature Astronomy, 1, 0154 (2017)

The Astropy Problem, Muna et al., arxiv:1610.03159 (2016)

Building an Inclusive AAS - The Critical Role of Diversity and Inclusion Training for AAS Council and Astronomy Leadership, Brinkworth, C, Byrd Skaer, A., Prescod-Weinstein, C., Teske, J, and Tuttle, S., arxiv:1610.02916 (2016)

We are The Scientists Against A Fascist Government, Prescod-Weinstein, C., Tuttle, S., and Osmundson, J., The Establishment (2017) 

Builders Instead of Consumers: Training Astronomers in Instrumentation & Observation, Tuttle, S., Lee, H., Froning, C.,Montgomery, M.,  arXiv:1410.2856 (2014)

Field Experience

  • Recommissioning of the KOSMOS spectrograph (2021), Apache Point Observatory

  • Initial Commissioning of LRS2 & VIRUS (2015-2016), McDonald Observatory

  • Commissioning of CHILE Spectrograph, Lijiang, China (2015)

  • Spring 2009 Integration and flight of FIREBall (science), Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (NASA), Fort Sumner, NM 

  • Spring 2007 Integration and flight of FIREBall (engineering), Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (NASA), Palestine, TX

Current Students & Supervisees

E. Farr, Undergraduate researcher & SDSS Research Technician, UW

K. Kadlec, Optical Engineer, UW/Apache Point Observatory

M. McKay, Graduate Researcher (4th year), UW

T. Mandeville, SDSS Research Technician, UW

C. Sayres, Graduate Researcher (4th year) & SDSS IV-V, UW

D. Stark, Postdoctoral Researcher, UW

B. Thomas, Graduate Researcher (5th year), UW

Z. Tu, Undergraduate Researcher, UW

D. Tran, Graduate Researcher (4th year), UW

Past Students & Supervisees:

C. Bartosz, Engineering Technician, SDSS-IV/V

J. Breneman, Undergraduate researcher, UW

J. Dumas, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, now at Xavier University (Asst. Prof.)

M. Durbin, Graduate Researcher (4th year), UW

S. Fillingham, Postdoctoral Researcher, UW

D. Frothingham, Undergraduate Researcher, UW

A. Goel, Undergraduate Researcher, UW

A. Jones, Undergraduate Researcher, UW

S. Kowalsky, Researcher, UW

J. Lozo, Mechanical Engineer, Apache Point Observatory/UW, now in industry

T. O’Reilly, Undergraduate Researcher, UW

R. Pahuja, Mechanical Engineer, UW/Apache Point Observatory

B. Piacitelli, Undergraduate Researcher, UW

J. Ragan, Undergraduate researcher, AUEG project, 

E. Rogenski, Undergraduate researcher, Capstone project co-advisor, Youngstown State University 

S. Smotherman, Research Assistant, University of Washington

Invitiations, Teaching & Community Outreach

2021 Colloquium Speaker, JPL (Remote)

2021 Invited Speaker: ASPEN: A Rainbow of Dark Sectors (Remote)

2020 Colloquium Speaker, CU Boulder (Remote)

2020 Colloquium Speaker, KIPAC Stanford (Remote)

2020 Colloquium Speaker, NASA Goddard (Remote)

2020 Colloquium Speaker, Penn State, State College, PA

2019 Invited Speaker, APS DPF 2019, Boston, MA

2019 Kavli Fellow: Frontiers of Science/National Academy of Science

2019 Colloquium Speaker, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

2018 51st Annual Users Meeting Keynote Speaker, Fermilab, IL

2017 Colloquium Speaker, Columbia University, New York, NY

2017 Invited Speaker, Regional AAPT

2016 Colloquium Speaker, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

2016 Invited Panelist, NSF Fellowship Symposium

2015 Invited Panelist, Inclusive Astronomy, Nashville, TN

2015 Colloquium Speaker, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

2015 Colloquium Speaker, Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA

2015 Colloquium Speaker, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

2015 Colloquium Speaker, UCSC, Santa Cruz, CA

2015 Colloquium Speaker, SFSU, San Francisco, CA

2014 Kavli Fellow: Frontiers of Science/National Academy of Science 

2014 Nerd Nite Austin SXSW Speaker

2013 JWST/SXSW Speaker (NASA Outreach)

2012-2013 Chair, Bash Symposium 2013: New Frontiers in Astronomy

2012 Invited Speaker, Dunlap Institute, Toronto, ON

2011 Invited Speaker, BashFest, Austin, TX, “Spectroscopy in the Age of Giant Telescopes”

2010 Colloqium Speaker, Stonybrook University, NY

2009 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast, “Astronomical Ballooning” 

2007 Invited Speaker , Café Science, NY

2005-2007 Head Teaching Assistant, Columbia University

2004-2007 Public Outreach Coordinator, Columbia University 

Service

2021 (ongoing) Co-chair of Working Group on Access & Disabilities, AAS

2021 (ongoing) HETDEX Large Scale Structures Working Group Chair

2020 (ongoing) Astrofest UW founder & organizer

2020-2021 Dept of Astronomy Colloquium Committee, UW

2019 - 2020 Kavli Frontiers of Science 2020 Org. Committee

2019 - 2020 HETDEX Collaboration Meeting organizer

2019 - 2020 NASA TIG co-chair/chair

2018, 2020 SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation UV Panel 

2017 - 2020 NASA COPAG EC Member

2016 - Current  Apache Point Observatory 3.5m Instrument Scientist

2016 - Current Dept. of Astronomy Chair of Inclusion & Equity, UW

2015 - Current Working Group on Access & Disabilities, AAS, Founding Member

2018 - 2019 APO working group on education

2017-  2020 Dept. of Astronomy Admissions Committee

2016 - 2017 Dept of Astronomy, Chair of Postdoc Mentoring Committee, UW

2016 - 2019 Committee for the Status of Women in Astronomy, American Astronomical Society (AAS), Member &

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