Department of Astronomy
Case Western Reserve University
10900 Euclid Ave
Cleveland, OH 44106
216-368-6832
bill.janesh@case.edu
EDUCATION
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN — PhD Astronomy, September 2018 Advisor: Prof. Katherine Rhode
MA Astronomy, December 2015
Kent State University, Kent, OH — MLIS Academic Libraries, 2013
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH — BS Astronomy, 2011
HONORS & AWARDS
Dissertation Year Research Fellowship, $20,000; Indiana University College of Arts & Sciences, 2017 - 2018
Department of Astronomy Distinguished Service Award, Indiana University, 2017
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dwarf galaxies, stellar populations, galaxy evolution, computational methods for astronomy, machine learning
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Instructor, Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH — 2018 - Present
- Taught introductory astrophysics sequence for majors/minors ASTR 221-222 and led seminars for major students
- Taught general education course ASTR 103 “Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe”, and developed 8-week online course based on this material for annual summer session offering to undergraduates.
- Provided department technology and instructional support, including managing Linux and Mac computer systems
Instructor, Indiana University; Bloomington, IN — 2016
- Designed and taught a 6-week section of the introductory course AST-A 105 “Stars and Galaxies”
- Honed skills in curriculum development, lesson planning, and presenting quantitative information clearly
Associate Instructor, Indiana University; Bloomington, IN — 2013 - 2014
- Served as a teaching assistant for the introductory course AST-A 105 “Stars and Galaxies”
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Graduate Research Assistant, Indiana University; Bloomington, IN — 2014 - 2018
- Create processes and publicly available software tools in Python to enable use of astronomical images
- Provide user support for software tools and analyze data resulting in multiple first author publications
- Received Department of Astronomy Distinguished Service Award for software tools used by the community
- 2014 - 2015 — Advisor: Prof. Katherine Rhode, Reduction and analysis of KPNO-4m Mosaic images of globular cluster systems of giant galaxies for the Globular Cluster System Survey
- 2016 — Advisor: Prof. Eileen Friel, Reduction and analysis of WIYN-3.5m ODI images of Milky Way globular clusters, development of odi-tools software package for ODI image stacking and analysis
- 2016 - 2018 — Advisor: Prof. Katherine Rhode, Reduction and analysis of WIYN-3.5m ODI images of ultra-compact high-velocity neutral hydrogen clouds from the ALFALFA HI survey, continued development of odi-tools
COMMUNITY & PUBLIC OUTREACH
Observatory Volunteer, Cleveland Museum of Natural History; Cleveland, OH — 2017 - 2018
- Operate multiple telescopes and inform patrons of all ages about night sky objects during public open houses at the Ralph Mueller Observatory
Astronomy State Supervisor, Indiana Science Olympiad, Bloomington, IN — 2014 - 2018
- Write and edit an astronomy exam for the Indiana State Science Olympiad event for high school students
Astronomy Outreach Coordinator, Indiana University; Bloomington, IN — 2015
- Managed and hosted popular weekly observatory public open houses and private outreach events
- Created astronomy-related programming targeted for K-8 age group for annual ScienceFest event
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS
10. Janesh, W., Rhode, K. L., Salzer, J. J., et al. 2019, Five Gas-rich Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy Candidates Discovered in WIYN Imaging of ALFALFA Sources, Astronomical Journal, 157, 183
9. Ball, C., Cannon, J. M., Leisman, L., et al. (including W. Janesh) 2018, The Enigmatic (Almost) Dark Galaxy Coma P: The Atomic Interstellar Medium, Astronomical Journal, 155, 65
8. Leisman, L., Haynes, M. P., Janowiecki, S., et al. (including W. Janesh) 2017, (Almost) Dark Galaxies in the ALFALFA Survey: Isolated HI-bearing Ultra-diffuse Galaxies, Astrophysical Journal, 842, 133
7. Janesh, W., Rhode, K. L., Salzer, J. J., et al. 2017, Detection of an Optical Counterpart to the ALFALFA Ultra-compact High-velocity Cloud AGC 249525, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 837, L16
6. Janesh, W., Morrison, H. L., Ma, Z., et al. 2016, The SEGUE K Giant Survey. III. Quantifying Galactic Halo Substructure, Astrophysical Journal, 816, 80
5. Janesh, W., Rhode, K. L., Salzer, J. J., et al. 2015, Searching for Optical Counterparts to Ultra-compact High Velocity Clouds: Possible Detection of a Counterpart to AGC 198606, Astrophysical Journal, 811, 35
4. Xue, X.-X., Rix, H.-W., Ma, Z., et al. (including W. Janesh) 2015, The Radial Profile and Flattening of the Milky Way’s Stellar Halo to 80 kpc from the SEGUE K-giant Survey, Astrophysical Journal, 809, 144
3. Adams, E. A. K., Cannon, J. M., Rhode, K. L., et al. (including W. Janesh) 2015, AGC 226067: A possible interacting low-mass system, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 580, A134
2. Janowiecki, S., Leisman, L., Jòzsa, G., et al. (including W. Janesh) 2015, (Almost) Dark HI Sources in the ALFALFA Survey: The Intriguing Case of HI1232+20, Astrophysical Journal, 801, 96
1. Adams, E. A. K., Faerman, Y., Janesh, W. F., et al. 2015, AGC198606: A gas-bearing dark matter minihalo?, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 573, L3
POSTERS & PRESENTATIONS
Cleveland Astronomical Society Frontiers of Astronomy, Cleveland, OH. March 2019.
231st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Washington, DC. January 2018.
Poster. “Looking for Galaxies in All the Right Places: A Search for Stellar Populations in ALFALFA’s Ultra-compact High Velocity Clouds”
STScI Spring Symposium, Baltimore, MD. April 2016.
Poster. “The Possible New Local Group Member AGC 198606 (Friend of Leo T) and the Search for Optical Counterparts to ALFALFA-Detected UCHVCs”.
225th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Seattle, WA. January 2015.
Poster. “Searching for Stellar Counterparts to ALFALFA Ultra-Compact High Velocity Clouds with WIYN/pODI”
SDSS-III Collaboration Meeting, Nashville, TN. August 2011.
Presentation. “New Pieces of the Sagittarius Tidal Stream”.
SEGUE Collaboration Meeting, Columbus, OH. March 2011.
Presentation. “Metallicity Distribution of the Sagittarius Streams”.