About Us
The Rubin Undergraduate Network (RUN) is a group of faculty, researchers, postgraduates, and staff members of primarily undergraduate-serving institutions and organizations who strive to involve and support undergraduates in research related to the Rubin Observatory and, in particular, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). While our institutions are spread across the United States and around the world, we regularly gather for online meetings and together host presentations at astronomy conferences throughout the year. Anyone who has a particular interest in using Rubin data to facilitate and encourage undergraduate astronomy research is welcomed to join our organization.
Our Mission
Undergraduates face several unique challenges when engaging in astronomy research compared to graduate students or postdocs. These challenges can include:
- Having to balance time dedicated to research with a significant course load, as well as (often non-academic related) employment
- Attending small or medium-sized institutions that are not research focused, and thus may not have substantial financial support available for research assistantships, research materials, or travel support to attend conferences and workshops
- Working with faculty mentors who themselves may not be experts in the field of astronomy
- Having a more limited time-scale over which to perform research projects (from a single semester up to approximately 2 years)
With these challenges in mind, our primary goal is to encourage and support undergraduates in obtaining rigorous and meaningful research experiences using Rubin data. Undergraduates with such experiences are more competitive in applying for graduate schools, and will enter with more realistic expectations of what their graduate student career will look like. Our secondary goal is to also provide resources for first-time mentors of undergraduates, in particular for those postdocs, faculty, and staff members who themselves have no or limited expertise in modern astronomical research, but wish to support their students who do have such aspirations. RUN aims to provide both created and curated materials to accomplish these goals for undergraduate students and their mentors.
How Can I Participate?
RUN does not have any strict membership requirements and there are no associated fees. As long as you have an interest in supporting undergraduate astronomy research using Rubin data, you are welcomed to join us! Feel free to email our current chair Mark Pitts ([email protected]) or any of those listed in our current membership (see our posted members list with contact information).
Current Membership
Last Updated: January 2026
(Members listed alphabetically with their contact email, affiliation, active time-zone, research interests, and Rubin science collaboration memberships)
Christina Adair
Affiliation: Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO
Time Zone: Central US time
Pauline Barmby
Affiliation: Western University, Canada
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Interests & Collaborations: Stars, Milky Way, and Local Volume Collaboration; Galaxy Collaboration; CanDIAPL
Jennifer Cash
Affiliation: South Carolina State University
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Interests & Collaborations: TVS Science Collaboration
Louise Edwards
Affiliation: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Mariam (Marie) Ismail Fawaz
Affiliation: University of Michigan – Dearborn
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Lilly Joseph
Affiliation: Benedictine University
Andrea Kunder
Affiliation: Saint Martin’s University
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Pacific US time
Interests & Collaborations: Stars, Milky Way, and Local Volume Collaboration
Akhtar Mahmood
Affiliation: Bellarmine University
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Interests & Collaborations: PhoSim; Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC)
Samia Mahmood
Affiliation: Bellarmine University
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Interests & Collaborations: PhoSim; Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC)
Alex Malz
Affiliation: [Not provided]
Email: [Not provided]
Time Zone: [Not provided]
Interests & Collaborations: [Not provided]
Brian Morsony
Affiliation: California State University Stanislaus
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Pacific US time
Interests & Collaborations: GRBs; Supernova; Transients; TVS Science Collaboration
Becka Phillipson
Affiliation: Villanova University
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Interests & Collaborations: TVS Science Collaboration
Mark A. Pitts
Affiliation: Eastern Kentucky University
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Interests & Collaborations: Low Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs
Andrés A. Plazas Malagón
Affiliation: SLAC / KIPAC / Stanford / Rubin
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Interests & Collaborations: Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC); SLSC
Aaron Romanowsky
Affiliation: San José State University; University of California, Santa Cruz
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Pacific US time
Interests & Collaborations: Galaxies; Stars, Milky Way & Local Volume
J. Allyn Smith
Affiliation: [Not provided]
Email: [Not provided]
Time Zone: [Not provided]
Interests & Collaborations: [Not provided]
Michael Solontoi
Affiliation: Monmouth College
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Central US time
Interests & Collaborations: Solar System Science Collaboration
Douglas Tucker
Affiliation: Fermilab
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Time Zone: US Central time
Matthew Wiesner
Affiliation: Benedictine University
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Central US time
Interests & Collaborations: Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC); follow-up of possible kilonova events; science education
Gerry Williger
Affiliation: University of Louisville
Jacob Yuzovitskiy
Affiliation: CUNY College of Staten Island
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Eastern US time
Meet Vyas
Affiliation: International Centre for Space and Cosmology, Ahmedabad University
Email: [email protected]
Time Zone: Indian Standard time
Interests & Collaborations: Transient and Variable Stars Science Collaboration
Tianqing Zhang
Affiliation: University of Pittsburgh
Undergraduate Resources
The Rubin Undergraduate Tutorial Handbook
LSST Research Manual