Employment

Associate Professor
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

Research Scientist
2021 -- 2024
Center for Computational Astrophysics
Flatiron Institute

Grainger Postdoctoral Fellow
2011 -- 2013
U Wisconsin, Madison

Sherman Fairchild Fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics
2008 -- 2011
California Insitute of Technology

Contact Information

email: abrooks at physics.rutgers.edu
office: 306 Serin
office phone: (848) 445-8877
Mail: Dept of Physics & Astronomy
Rutgers University
136 Frelinghuysen Rd
Piscataway, NJ 08854

Education

University of Washington
Ph.D. in Astronomy
Summer 2008
Thesis Title: "The Role of Gas in the Evolution of Disk Galaxies"
Thesis Advisor: Fabio Governato

University of Washington
M.S. in Astronomy
Sept 2004

Macalester College
B.A. in Physics with Astronomy emphasis, magna cum laude
Dec 2000

Honors

2019 American Physical Society Maria Goeppert Mayer Award
2019 Rutgers Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence
2019 Rutgers Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence
2017 SAS Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Education Award
2016 Outstanding Teaching Award, presented by the Society of Physics Students of Rutgers University
2015 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Physics

Equity & Outreach while at Rutgers

Participant, 4H STEM Ambassadors Program
Discussions with science-interested high school student-ambassadors from underserved and under-represented communities in NJ. The STEM Ambassadors return to their home communities to contribute a minimum of 50 hours of service each year.
July 2023
Rockland Astronomy Club
Speaker at public outreach event at SUNY Rockland, hosted by the Rockland Astronomy Club.
Oct 2022
Member and Chair, N-Body Shop Code of Conduct Committee
Enforcing the CoC and evaluating the state of our collaboration community.
2021-2023
Founder, RU-PREP
Developed and implemented RU-PREP (the Rutgers Undergraduate Pipeline to Research and Education in Physics), a seminar for first-year Rutgers undergrads designed to develop their research skills, get them involved in research, and build a mentoring network as well as a peer-mentoring cohort.
2019-
Member, CSMA
The American Astronomical Society's Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy
2014-2020
Panelist, Women's Leadership Conference
18th Annual Women's Leadership Conference and Career Pathways. Physics Sciences career panelist. Sponsored by the South Brunswick Commission on Women, for high school girls (at South Brunswick High School).
March 2015
Astronomy on Tap
Speaker at public outreach event in Brooklyn and Kingston, Ontario.
Aug 2014 & Jan 2021
Project SUPER Mentor
Project SUPER (Science for Undergraduates: A Program for Excellence in Research) is a STEM-focused enrichment program that offers undergraduate women the opportunity to actively participate in academic research.
Spring 2014
Price Foundation Fellows Program Mentor
The goal of the PFF program is to provide supportive services to youth, ages 17-25, attending Rutgers (who have current or former experience in the child welfare system in New Jersey or other States) to successfully graduate from college.
Spring/Summer 2014

Invited Talks (since arrival at Rutgers)

Toronto, Canada, Defining new simulation frontiers for dark matter discovery Oct 2024
Rutgers U, Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Princeton U, Dark Cosmos Seminar
Sept 2024
U Chicago, Astronomy and Astrophysics Colloquium May 2024
U Washington, Astronomy Colloquium
Vienna Astrophysics Colloquium
Oct 2023
LSST DESC DM Working Group Sep 2023
Krun, Germany, Simons Symposium on Illuminating Dark Matter
Pollica, Italy, Self-Interacting Dark Matter: Models, Simulations and Signals
June 2023
Caltech, Astronomy Colloquium
NYU, CCPP seminar
Mar 2023
Stony Brook U, Physics Colloquium
U California, Santa Cruz, Astronomy Colloquium
Feb 2023
Irving, CA, Disk Settling Workshop Sept 2022
GGI Symposium New Physics from the Sky
Flatiron Institute, CCA Lunch talk
Nov 2021
Panelist, Philosophical Aspects of Simulations in Cosmology Aug 2021
Wayne State University, Particle-Astro-Nuclear seminar
May 2021
Aspen, CO, A Rainbow of Dark Sectors
Penn State University, Astronomy & Astrophysics Colloquium
U Indiana, Astronomy Colloquium
Mar 2021
New Mexico State University, Astronomy Colloquium Feb 2021
Queen's University, astronomy seminar Nov 2020
Carnegie Mellon/U Pitt joint astronomy seminar Sept 2020
Krun, Germany, Simons Symposium on Illuminating Dark Matter
Reykjavik, Iceland, Extreme Galaxies and Extreme Environments as Probes of Galaxy Formation (postponed due to COVID-19)
Apr 2020
UCLA, LADM 2020 (postponed due to COVID-19) Mar 2020
Harvard, Particle Theory Seminar
Lafayette Collete, Physics & Astronomy Colloquium
Feb 2020
U Utah, Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Nov 2019
Chicago, IL, Cosmic Controversies Oct 2019
AMNH, astro seminar
Reykjavik, Iceland, Competing Structure Formation Models
Sept 2019
KICP, Chicago, IL, LSST Dark Matter Workshop Aug 2019
Durham, UK, Small Galaxies, Cosmic Questions July 2019
American Physical Society April Meeting, invited Maria Goeppert Mayer Award talk Apr 2019
UMass Amherst Astronomy Colloquium Mar 2019
Munich Joint Astronomy Colloquium (ESO/MPA/MPE/USM) Jan 2019
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Institute for Theory & Computation Colloquium Nov 2018
Vienna, Austria, IAU Symposium on Dwarf Galaxies: From the Deep Universe to the Present
Santa Cruz, CA, 2018 Santa Cruz Galaxy Formation Workshop
Aug 2018
Flatiron Institute CCA, Epoch of Reionization and Early Universe Galaxy Evolution with JWST June 2018
Krun, Germany, Simons Symposium on Illuminating Dark Matter
U Oregon, Physics & Astronomy Colloquium
May 2018
KITP, Dark Matter Detection and Detectability: Paradigm Confirmation or Shift? Apr 2018
Banff International Research Station, DM-Stat: Statistical Challenges in the Search for Dark Matter Feb 2018
U Texas, Austin, Astronomy Colloquium
MIT, Astrophysics Colloquium
Oct 2017
U Conn, Physics & Astronomy Colloquium
Simons Center for Computational Astrophysics, Colloquium
Sept 2017
Vanderbilt U, Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Aug 2017
Case Western Reserve U, Dwarf Galaxies on the Shoulders of Giants June 2017
KITP, Quantifying and Understanding the Galaxy-Halo Connection
Caltech, TAPIR Seminar
May 2017
Fermilab, Colloquium April 2017
Princeton U, Pheno & Vino talk
Simons Center at Stony Brook U, Beyond WIMPs: From Theory to Detection
March 2017
OSU, CCAPP Seminar Feb 2017
Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, Non-WIMP Dark Matter Nov 2016
APS Mid-Atlantic Conference
Montreal, Canada, Exploring the Universe with JWST - II
Oct 2016
Rider University, Science Series Fridays Sept 2016
Princeton University, Thunch talk May 2016
Lorentz Center, Leiden, Dark Matter on the Smallest Scales
Radcliffe Institute, Rethinking Dark Matter
STScI, May Symposium, What Shapes Galaxies?
Apr 2016
AAS Special Session: Astrophysical Constraints of Dark Matter Properties Jan 2016
U Delaware, Astronomy Seminar Series Dec 2015
Yale University, Census, Evolution, Physics: The Public Release of the 3D-HST Nov 2015
Macalester College, Physics Colloquium Oct 2015
plenary talk, CASCA (Canadian Astronomical Society meeting)
KICP, U Chicago, Friday Seminar Series
May 2015
Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Seminar Series
Columbia University, Astro Seminar Series
Apr 2015
Case Western Reserve University, Astronomy Colloqium
PHISCC (Pathfinders HI Science Coordination Committee) Workshop
Mar 2015
Origins Institute, McMaster University, Colloqium
U Washington, DUSC Seminar
Jan 2015
Perimeter Institute, Particle Theory Seminar
U Waterloo, Physics Colloquium
UC Berkeley, Theoretical Astrophysics Center (TAC) Seminar Series
Dec 2014
NYU, Astrophysics Seminar Series
invisibles webinar
Sept 2014
11th Potsdam Thinkshop, Satellite Galaxies and Dwarfs in the Local Group Aug 2014
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Astroparticle Physics: A joint TeVPA/IDM conference
Aspen Center for Physics, Summer Colloquium Series
June 2014
8th Sackler Conference in Theoretical Astrophysics, Debates on the Nature of Dark Matter May 2014
IAS, Seminar Series
KITP, Santa Barbara, Fire Down Below: The Impact of Feedback on Star and Galaxy Formation
AMNH, Astronomy Seminar
April 2014
Lehigh University, Physics Colloqium
Kenyon College, Physics Colloqium
March 2014
UC Riverside, Astronomy Seminar
Tenerife, Spain, Invited Lecturer, DAGAL Collaboration Meeting
Feb 2014
NRC-Herzberg, Victoria, BC, Astronomy Seminar Jan 2014
CUNY, 2013 Tri-State Astronomy Meeting Sept 2013
Harvard University, Self-Interacting Dark Matter Workshop Aug 2013



Last modified: 27-Aug-2020