About Me

Hi!, I'm Robert Frazier, a soon-to-be 3rd year grad student at the University of Michigan Astronomy Department. I am starting on work with Prof. Lia Corrales on high energy observations of exoplanets and their host stars to better understand the relationship between the two and important properties like atmospheric escape and haze formation.

I've recently finished up work with Emily Rauscher on comparing NIRISS observations of the ultrahot Jupiter WASP-121b with simulated spectra from 3-D Atmospheric Models. Through the observed and modeled spectroscopic phase curves of WASP-121 b we probe and better understand the extreme dynamics of ultrahot Jupiters.

In my free time I enjoy cooking, reading, Philly, and going down rabbit holes on wikipedia.

You can reach me at robertcf@umich.edu! I'm on bluesky as bertmaneternal.bsky.social. And here's my CV

My Research Work and Interests

  • Hot Jupiter Dynamics

    I worked with Emily Rauscher using 3D climate models of WASP-121 b to better understand their dynamics and generate observables from these models to compare to observations. This lets us probe the extreme dynamics these worlds have, such as superrotational winds and large scale magnetic drag.

  • The Rossiter-McLaughlin Effect

    At my undergrad, Penn State, I worked with Suvrath Mahadevan and Guðmundur Stefánsson where we used high precision radial velocity measurements from NEID to determine the obliquities of the young sub-Neptune WASP-121b using the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect.

  • Planetary Atmospheres and Evolution

    Overall, I have a keen interest in everything that relates to planet atmospheres and evolution. I hope to work towards observations and models that help inform and constrain models for how planets and their atmospheres evolve and work.

Outreach and Service

I want to increase interest in science and support a welcoming environment wherever I am.

At the University of Michigan I have helped run outreach events with grade-school students as part of the FEMMES program . I'm also currently involved in a mentoring program between the grad students in the Astronomy Department and its undergrads through the Student Astronomical Society, and I serve as the Undergrad Liason between the grad students and undergrads.

While at Penn State I was the president of its Society of Physics Students (SPS) chapter I worked tirelessly to try and make it an open and welcoming environment to everyone. I also committed to working towards diversity, equity, and inclusion in the physics department at Penn State. I assisted with and served as webmaster for the 2023 Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) being held at Penn State and I was a part of the local APS IDEA team where we worked to increase diversity in the department. One of my continuous goals has been to try and make the undergraduates feel like they are a part of the department, and not people passing through. To this end I worked on increased information shared with us undergrads and on more events and activities where professors, graduates, and undergrads can interact in a non-academic environment.