Steven Dorsher
He/Him
I am a transman/nonbinary person; gay; and partly disabled by seizures, fatigue, and migraines. I am a former computational astronomer and physicist (15+ yr, 3 MS’s).//
I have earned 3 MSc’s in pursuit of PhD’s over 15 years of research in astronomy and physics, then continued doing research beyond independently.
I have been a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration during the time of the detections that earned it the Nobel Prize, as well as before. Though my contribution was not important at that time, I was previously an author on many collaboration papers by virtue of my contribution to the LSC. Within LIGO and General Relativity, I worked on Numerical Relativity simulations of Extreme Mass Ratio black hole binary orbits. I also helped prototype a LIGO gravitational wave event and environmental noise database. Before that, I computed and simulated gravity gradient noise due to seismic waves for future gravitational wave detectors. I also developed statistics for, implemented, and tested a prototype gravitational wave search for line-like patterns on spectrograms.
I have also made significant contributions to nine publications, theses, or pre-prints. I helped address survey techniques using gravitational lensing to measure cosmology, computed exoplanet statistics, invented and modeled an algorithm for fractional calculus, and contributed to the NOvA neutrino detector technical design report. Since leaving my last PhD program, I have simulated Newtonian gravity three body orbits for an exoplanet about a binary star.
My career has been strongly influenced by family, ex-husband, and current long term partner. My seizures have literally ended my PhD program once and strongly influenced it a second time. However, 15+ years research and 3 MS is a success.
I love to play Guild Wars 2, discuss physics and astronomy, spend time with my family, and read my best friend’s excellent novels and also graduate level textbooks. I have an interest in programming and have an ongoing plan to broaden my knowledge and skills. I hope to eventually work with open data or get a job in industry (health permitting). I’m learning Danish for and am intensely devoted to my partner.