I am an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland, and a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration--i.e. I'm an insider! Gravitational waves are my main area of research. I spend most of my time working on searches for gravitational wave "bursts", but I also follow the other types of analyses being done with data from LIGO, GEO 600 and Virgo. In fact, for a while I was the chair of the internal review committee that checks the validity of the Einstein@home analysis and other searches for continuous-wave signals.

I am not an astrophysicist by training; I got my Ph.D. working on a particle physics experiment at Fermilab, then decided to try something new and exciting. I'm glad I made the change; working on LIGO has been a rewarding experience. I look forward to the eventual observation of gravitational waves and the astrophysics we will learn from them, but I also think the journey to get there is fun in itself.