Grant David Meadors
He/Him
I’m gay and I’m a postdoc in gravitational-wave astrophysics. //
Observing gravitational waves gives new perspective on the Universe: Starting science at the tumbleweed-crowned LIGO Hanford Observatory thirteen years ago gave me perspective on myself to come out. From filtering noise subtraction to a quantum squeezing experiment, I earned my physics PhD at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2014, researching gravitational-wave data analysis and astrophysics. There and for three years as a postdoc at the Max Planck Society’s Albert Einstein Institute in Hannover, Germany, I sought a signal from a neutron star in Scorpius X-1. Sensitive supercomputing methods emerged, but no waves yet. Now, at Monash University, as part of the Australian Research Council’s OzGrav program, besides being a member of the Early Career Researcher and Equity and Diversity committees, I am investigating the precession of black holes. That and many other astronomical questions are inspired by our recent Nobel-winning detections. I help to lead the LVC Allies program against harassment and bullying in the LIGO and Virgo Collaboration. In my spare time, I love traveling around the world to meet my partner Ethan, a statistical epidemiologist who studies HIV phylogeny; seven of our eight years have been long-distance. We will be married August 2018.