About Me
I am Zhiyuan Ma (马志远/Jerry), a PhD student in Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri-Columbia.
I work with Dr. Haojing Yan, focusing on the formation and evolution of galaxies. I am interested particularly in revealing the “hidden” episodes of the star forming activities during the epoch of “cosmic noon”, when the universe was forming stars the most actively but heavily obscured by the dust.
As part of my PhD training, I have spent 200+ hrs at the MDM observatory and the WIYN observatory, on the mountain of Kitt Peak, AZ. Over the past few years, I have gained substantial experience in reducing and analyzing various kinds of astronomical datasets, spanning from optical to far-infrared. Using these data, we are working on getting a comprehensive view of the so called “ULIRG” population at z > 1, which gives important hints about how the universe evolves to its current form.
I use Python and C/C++ as my primary programming language. I am also familiar with most of the popular data reduction/analysis tools.
I am the author of APUS, a tool to organize and automate complex data reduction pipelines. I also wrote CLaws, a simple GUI-based amateur CCD controlling software that could inter-operate with professional tools like DS9/IRAF.
I use Vim, and like spaces over tabs. I like writing poems (in my native language) and playing guitar. I also sing, but an average audience may find it a bit disturbing.
