Recently-graduated PhD from the University of New Mexico, mapping the demographics of M dwarf-M dwarf (M & Ms) eclipsing binaries and hunting for planets in these systems with TESS. 2023–2025 NASA FINESST Awardee.
I grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, where a childhood passion for Science Olympiad grew into a lifelong love of science. Astronomy hooked me for the same reason it hooks most people: the scales are impossible to reconcile with everyday life. If you commuted to the Orion Nebula at the average American's 15 mph pace, you'd be driving for about 2.7 billion years.
I completed my B.S. at Case Western Reserve University in 2020 and am now a PhD candidate at the University of New Mexico, studying transiting exoplanets with a focus on circumbinary planets. Outside the office I'm a cat dad to Chini, an avid runner and hiker, a baker, and a proud jazz and D&D nerd.
Thanks to: Lori Cohen, Amy Roediger, Tom Ramsey, Victor Senn, Mark Harker, Ben Monreal, Don Figer, John Ruhl, Gary Chottiner, Chris Mihos, Stacy McGaugh, Diana Dragomir (*PhD advisor), and many more friends, colleagues, teachers, and mentors.
Circumbinary planets, M-dwarf binaries, and precision photometry — all through the lens of TESS.
Led a team to identify ~1,300 M-dwarf eclipsing binaries across the sky, characterizing their orbital periods, eclipse times, radii, masses, temperatures, and population-level eccentricity distributions.
Developing methods to find Tatooine-like planets — circumbinary worlds that orbit two stars — at population scale using TESS. Aiming for the first TESS-based circumbinary occurrence rate.
Analyzed 10 planets observed by both TESS and ESA's CHEOPS mission, finding that TESS performs slightly better than pre-launch predictions suggested — an important calibration for future surveys.
Science doesn't happen in a vacuum — neither does a career. Here's where I show up outside research.
Graduate students have been overworked and undervalued for too long. I've been involved with UNM Graduate Workers in several capacities, including as a co-lead negotiator for the Spring 2024 raise — the most expensive contract the UNM administration has ever agreed to. My favorite part, though, is doing walkthroughs and hearing what my colleagues need.
The Peer Undergraduate Mentorship Program in UNM Physics & Astronomy pairs grad students with undergrads navigating the same journey we were on just a few years ago. It sharpens mentorship skills on both sides and strengthens the department as a whole.
Case Western Reserve University
CWRU — exoplanet yield modeling (WAET concept)
University of New Mexico
Advisor: Dr. Diana Dragomir
University of New Mexico
Circumbinary planet occurrence rates with TESS
UNM Graduate Workers Union
Whether you have a science question, a collaboration idea, or just want to chat circumbinary planets — reach out.
Primary email: doddo@unm.edu
Personal email: domoddo15@gmail.com
Department: UNM Physics & Astronomy, Albuquerque, NM