Alex Hill

(He, Him, His)

Assistant Professor

Astrophysics, Mathematics, Physics
Other Titles: Adjunct Scientist, National Research Council/Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
Office: SCI 261
Phone: 250.807.8919
Email: alex.hill@ubc.ca

Graduate student supervisor


CV Download

Research Summary

Radio, optical, and computational astronomy. Interstellar gas, magnetic fields, and turbulence in and around the Milky Way. Photoionization and radiative transfer in interstellar gas. High velocity clouds. Cosmology and the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME).

Courses & Teaching

ASTR 210 (Physical Processes in the Universe), ASTR 321 (Stellar Astrophysics), ASTR 110/111/112 (Astrophysics I/Astronomy I), ASTR 120/121/122 (Astrophysics II/Astronomy II)

Biography

Dr. Alex S. Hill is an astronomer who joined the faculty at UBC Okanagan in 2019. After completing his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011, he held research positions at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s Australia Telescope National Facility in Sydney, Haverford College near Philadelphia, and at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory near Penticton, BC. His research focuses on gas and magnetic fields between the stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

Websites

Global Magneto-Ionic Medium Survey
Mastodon: @alexshill@astrodon.social

Degrees

PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011
BA, Oberlin College, 2004

Research Interests & Projects

Most of my research is carried out at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory near Penticton; some of my group is based there and some on campus at UBCO.

I supervise graduate students in the mathematics and computer science programs at UBCO.

  • Galactic science as part of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) cosmology team
    • Understanding magnetic fields in the Milky Way
    • Characterization of the CHIME telescope’s beams
  • Radio observations of magnetic fields and ionized gas
    • The Global Magnetoionic Medium Survey (GMIMS)
    • A survey using the Dish Verification Array (DVA) 15 m telescope at DRAO.
    • Upgrading the DRAO Synthesis Telescope with broadband capability to achieve arcminute characterization of the magnetized, ionized gas in the Galactic plane
  • The multi-phase interstellar medium
    • Numerical simulations of supernova-driven turbulence
    • Ionization of interstellar gas
    • The role of magnetic fields in the multi-phase interstellar medium

Selected Publications & Presentations

See ORCID or NASA Astrophysics Data System for a list of my publications. An ADS search is more complete but has some papers not by me.

Selected Grants & Awards

  • Hubble Space Telescope theory grant, 2016–2017
  • NASA Astrophysics Theory Program, 2017-2020
  • NSERC Discovery Grant, 2020-2025
  • CFI John Evans Leaders Fund, 2021-2026

Professional Services/Affiliations/Committees

American Astronomical Society, Canadian Astronomical Society

Media

CBC Daybreak South: Fast radio bursts

CBC Radio West: Starlink Satellites

 

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