Juna Kollmeier

Juna Kollmeier is an American astrophysicist renowned for her leadership in large-scale spectroscopic surveys and her theoretical work on the cosmic web and supermassive black holes. She serves as the director of the fifth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and holds a joint position as the Crawford H. Greenewalt Chair at the Carnegie Institution for Science and as a senior member at the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics. Her research bridges observational astronomy and theoretical astrophysics to understand the structure and evolution of the universe.

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Kollmeier developed an early interest in science and mathematics. She pursued her undergraduate studies in physics at the California Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Science degree. She then attended the University of Cambridge as a Churchill Scholar, where she completed a Master of Philosophy in astronomy. Kollmeier returned to the United States for her doctoral work, receiving a Ph.D. in astronomy from Ohio State University in 2004 under the supervision of cosmologist David H. Weinberg. Her dissertation focused on the baryon content of the universe and its implications for galaxy formation.

Career and research

Following her Ph.D., Kollmeier held a prestigious Carnegie Fellowship at the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California. Her early research involved studying the intergalactic medium using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and pioneering simulations of the Lyman-alpha forest. She joined the permanent scientific staff at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., where she has held the Crawford H. Greenewalt Chair. A major focus of her career has been the Sloan Digital Sky Survey; she was appointed director of its ambitious fifth phase, SDSS-V, which is a pioneering all-sky spectroscopic survey. Her theoretical work includes influential studies on the co-evolution of galaxies and their central black holes, notably through the "BlackHoleMass" project, and she has contributed significantly to understanding feedback processes in galactic nuclei. Kollmeier also holds a concurrent position as a senior research scientist at the Flatiron Institute in New York City, where she collaborates extensively on computational projects.

Honors and awards

Kollmeier's contributions have been recognized with several major awards. In 2009, she received the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy from the American Astronomical Society for her early-career achievements. A significant honor came in 2020 when she was a co-recipient of the New Horizons in Physics Prize, awarded by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, for her leadership in SDSS-V and foundational work on the relationship between black holes and their host galaxies. She has also been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society and has delivered numerous invited talks, including the prestigious Kavli Foundation-sponsored plenary lectures at international conferences like those of the International Astronomical Union.

Personal life

Kollmeier is married to physicist Sean Carroll, a well-known theoretical physicist and author at Johns Hopkins University. They have two children and maintain a household that actively engages with scientific discourse. An advocate for women in science, she has participated in panels and initiatives aimed at improving diversity and inclusion within STEM fields, including those organized by the American Institute of Physics. Outside of professional pursuits, she is an avid reader and enjoys outdoor activities with her family.

Selected publications

* Kollmeier, J.A., et al. (2017). "SDSS-V: Pioneering Panoptic Spectroscopy." In *Proceedings of the SPIE*. * Kollmeier, J.A., et al. (2014). "The BlackHoleMass Galaxy Co-evolution." *The Astrophysical Journal Letters*. * Kollmeier, J.A., & Weinberg, D.H. (2010). "The Baryon Census of the Universe." *Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics*. * Kollmeier, J.A., et al. (2006). "The Lyman-alpha Forest in the Cosmic Microwave Background Era." *The Astrophysical Journal*. * Kollmeier, J.A., et al. (2004). "Damped Lyman-alpha Systems as Probes of Chemical Evolution." *The Astrophysical Journal*.

Category:American astrophysicists Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Carnegie Institution for Science people Category:Flatiron Institute people Category:California Institute of Technology alumni Category:University of Cambridge alumni Category:Ohio State University alumni