Postdoctoral Fellowship: AAPF: A unified model of large star cluster formation and evolution anchored in observational data from Cosmic Dawn to the Local Universe

Samantha Berek is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Berek will compile the most comprehensive catalog of globular clusters in nearby low-mass galaxies to date. Because globular clusters contain such ancient stars, better understanding their formation can provide essential clues into how star formation proceeded in the early universe.

For the educational component of this project, Berek will lead an undergraduate program of research, mentoring and tutoring throughout the University of Massachusetts' Five College Consortium.

Using a hierarchical Bayesian framework, Berek will build a statistical model to connect a set of local globular clusters in low-mass dwarf galaxies within and beyond the Local Group, to a set of starforming molecular clouds and stellar clumps in low-mass high-z galaxies. Berek will build both catalogs from public data and provide the final catalogs to the public.

The statistical model will trace the formation and evolution of globular clusters from the high-z universe to today and provide crucial cluster evolutionary information for cosmological models. The catalogs will provide a rich sample of observational targets for current and future observing programs.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.