Biography:
Dr. Matthew Shannon is currently a fellow of the NASA Postdoctoral Program, administered by the Universities Space Research Association. He works at NASA's Ames Research Center as a member of the Ames Astrochemistry Group, located at Moffett Field in California.
Dr. Shannon received his Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2016 (thesis) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Els Peeters at the University of Western Ontario in London, ON, Canada. In 2012 he obtained his M.Sc. in Astronomy at the same university.
Dr. Shannon's research focuses on understanding the spectral complexity of astronomical polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) molecules, particularly those in the nearby universe. Of particular interest are the variations in shape and strength of the PAH emission bands in such environments as newly-forming protoplanetary disks, late-stage dusty asymptotic giant branch stars, the general interstellar medium and regions of star formation (e.g., one, two). He particularly enjoys leaning into multidimensional spectral map datasets, which contain significant information about spatial distributions of populations.
To fully understand the behaviour of astronomical PAHs, laboratory and theoretical studies of PAH molecules must be closely considered, as they provide methods for linking astronomical spectra to real, known molecules. The NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database (PAHdb) is a critical component of his research, providing a repository for researchers to map such molecules to astronomical populations. Dr. Shannon is involved in the development and maturation of a Python version of PAHdb.
Matt enjoys hobbies such as mountain biking, motorcycling, road cycling and spending time with his wife Erin and his furry felines, Pablo and Sammy.
Matt's major publications can be found on the Astrochemistry Laboratory's Publications Pages.
|
