Dr. Jessica S. Li

Jess received her B.Eng. with a triple major in physics, astronomy, and mechanical engineering in 2015, and her M.S. in mechanical engineering in 2016 from Stony Brook University. At Brookhaven National Laboratory, she worked as a mechanical design engineer for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, and the Short Baseline Near Detector. Jess graduated with a Ph.D. in Physics in 2024 and worked on a combination of UV astrophysics and instrumentation. Her thesis projects included: 1) analyzing Palomar Cosmic Web Imager data to understand the circumgalactic medium around quasars, 2) developing the Faint Intergalactic Medium Redshifted Balloon Telescope calibration system, 3) working on the Aspera SmallSat mission's grating characterization testing, and 4) measuring novel small-scale gratings manufactured with electron beam lithography for technology development in UV spectroscopy (collaboration with UIowa). She is continuing to work in UV astrophysics and instrumentation as a postdoc at the University of Florida.