PDF of CV: Long version: CV_2011.PDF, Short version: CV_2011_Short.PDF
PDF of Teaching Dossier: Teaching_Dossier.PDF

Hilding Neilson, PhD
Birth Date: December 19, 1980
Citizenship: Canada
Argelander Institute for Astronomy
University of Bonn
Auf dem Hügel 71
53121 Bonn
Germany
hneilson “at” astro.uni-bonn.de
www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~hneilson

Research Interests

Stars, and the observable atmospheres of stars, pulsation and mass loss and the role these phenomena affect the structure and evolution of stars, the numerical and analytical methods required to explore stellar properties, radiative hydrodynamics and the calculations of stellar atmospheres.

Current Position

Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Argelander Institute for Astronomy in the Stellar Astrophysics Group

Previous Position

Argelander Fellow at the Argelander Institute for Astronomy in the Stellar Astrophysics Group

Education

  • University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. Canada.
     PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics, November 2009.
     Supervisor: Dr. John B. Lester
     Thesis Title: The Dynamic Atmospheres of Classical Cepheids: Studies of Atmospheric
    Extension, Mass Loss, and Shocks
  • St. Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
     BSc in Astrophysics and Mathematics, April 2003.
     Supervisor: Dr. David Guenther
     Thesis Title: The JAVA Stellar Evolution Display: A New Tool For the Study of Stellar
    Evolution
  • Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Corner Brook, NL, Canada.
     One year of university, 1998 - 1999
Research Experience

  • PhD Thesis Project with Dr. John Lester, 2004-2009
     Studies of numerical methods for calculating model stellar atmospheres for stars with
    extended atmospheres, the numerical calculations of radial pulsating stellar models,
    hydrodynamics in stellar atmospheres, mass-loss in Cepheids
  • PhD Project with Dr. Yanqin Wu, Summer 2003
     Analytical analysis of radiative damping of non-radial pulsation in White Dwarfs
    causing variable periods of pulsation.
  • PhD Project with Dr. Chris Matzner, 2003 – 2004
     The Effect of Momentum Input on the Interstellar Medium.
  • BSc Project with Dr. David Guenther, 2001 – 2003
    Understanding and comparing the structure of different stellar models at similar stages
    of evolution.
  • Undergraduate Research Project with Dr. George Mitchell, Summer 2000
    Determining the total mass of hydrogen and finding clumps in Rho Ophiuchus A.
Computing Skills

  • Languages C++, FORTRAN 77/90, JAVA, some shared memory parallel computing
  • Platforms Mac OSX, Windows, Linux
  • Mark–Up LATEX, HTML
  • Visualization & Analysis Tools IDL, gnuplot, basic UNIX

Service

  • Served as referee for the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Astronomical Journal and The Astrophysical Journal Letters
  • President of Graduate Astronomy Student Association, University of Toronto,
    2006–2007
     Responsibilities include organizing social events, interact with Department on behalf of
    students.
  • Treasurer for Graduate Astronomy Student Association, University of Toronto,
    2004–2006
     Responsibilities included maintaining accounts, and applying for funding for the
    student association. Also initiated along with two other students food service for
    department increasing the funding significantly.
Teaching Experience

  • Lecturer for Astronomy 201 at University of Toronto at Mississauga, Winter 2009
    Organized and presented lectures in an astronomy course designed for arts students.
    Used online quizzes and in-class clickers as part of the teaching pedagogy.
  • Teaching Assistant at University of Toronto at Mississauga, Spring 2006, 2007 - 2008
    Introductory astronomy course for non science students.
    Responsible for weekly tutorials and quizzes.
  • Teaching Assistant at University of Toronto, 2003 – 2008
     Conducted tutorial sessions, graded assignments and exams for introductory
    astronomy courses for non–science students, and courses for life science students. In
    some of those courses, I managed webCT, an internet based teaching tool. In the Fall
    2006, I was a teaching assistant for a second year course for specialist students. This
    allowed for more interaction with students and I taught one lecture.
  • Teaching Assistant at Saint Mary’s University, 2000 – 2003
     Graded assignments, quizzes and exams for introductory physics, introductory
    calculus, and astronomy for non-science students.

Select Talks

This is an interest of mine. I have given a few talks for the Department of Astronomy’s monthly Public Tours. I have also participated in the Department of Astronomy’s open house since 2004.

  • Comparison of Limb-Darkening Laws from Plane-Parallel and Spherically-Symmetric Model Stellar Atmospheres presented at IAU Symposium 282: From Interacting Binaries to Explanets: Essential Modeling Tools, Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia, July 18-22, 2011
  • Resolving the Cepheid Mass Discrepancy with Pulsation-Driven Mass Loss presents at the 218th Meeting of the AAS, Boston, USA, May 22-26, 2011
  • Weighing Betelgeuse: Measuring the Mass of Red Supergiants from Stellar Limb-Darkening presented at the 9th Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics, Lijiang, China, April 14-20, 2011
  • Limb-Darkening and Stellar Atmospheres presented at CASCA 2010, Halifax, Canada, May 25-28, 2010

Public Outreach

This is an interest of mine. I have given a few talks for the Department of Astronomy’s monthly Public Tours. I have also participated in the Department of Astronomy’s open house since 2004.

  • List of Public Talks
  • The Active Sun or What’s Wrong With my TV?
  • Astroseismology: The Music of the Spheres
  • The Life & Times of a Star: How Astronomers Understand the Evolution of Stars
  • What is a Solar Eclipse? (For U of T Astronomy Day 2006)
  • Is There Life on Other Planets?

Academic Awards

Highlighted Article in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics (2011)
Finalist for best poster at Cool Stars 16, Seattle, USA. August 29 - September 2, 2010
Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2010)
Michael Fieldus Memorial Award (2008)
Walter John Helm Government of Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (2005, 2006)
Walter C. Sumner Memorial Fellowship (2005, 2006)
University of Toronto Fellowship (2003, 2004, 2005 , 2006)
C.A. Chant Fellowship (2003)
St. Mary’s University Undergraduate Academic Scholarship (2000, 2001, 2002)
Canada Millennium Scholarship (2000, 2001, 2002)
National Science and Engineering Research Council Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarship (2002)

Membership

American Astronomical Society — Member (2011— Present)
Canadian Astronomical Society — Member (2009 — Present)
Canadian Astronomical Society — Junior Member (2005 — 2009)

Personal Interests

Playing chess, volleyball (beach and court), history of astronomy, history of Newfoundland and Labrador

References

Available on request.