photo by Sylvie Li
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Prof. Nicolas B. Cowan nicolas.cowan@mcgill.ca Trottier Space Institute McGill University 3550 rue University Montreal, QC Canada Curriculum Vitae Publications: recent cited |
I'm an Associate Professor and Arthur B. McDonald Fellow in the departments of Physics and Earth & Planetary Sciences at McGill University, as well as the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Planetary Climate. I am also a member of the interdisciplinary Trottier Space Institute, the Montreal-wide Institut de recherche sur les exoplanètes, the province-wide Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec, and the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada. I have taught EPSC/PHYS-186 Astrobiology, PHYS-214 Introductory Astrophysics, ATOC/PHYS-404 Climate Physics, PHYS-641 Observational Astrophysics, PHYS-642 Radiative Processes, and EPSC-645 Planets.
I study the surfaces and atmospheres of exoplanets by monitoring how their brightness and color change with time (for more details, read this brief review or this in-depth review). I helped found the ExoClimes meetings, which (unsurprisingly!) cover most of the scientific areas that interest me. I am the Canadian PI for ESA's Ariel mission, and a Collaborator on the JWST/NIRISS instrument. On the ground, I am on ESO/NIRPS Science Team. My students and I developped the Climate App to help explain the greenhouse effect to the public.
The McGill Exoplanet Characterization Alliance (MEChA) is diverse, dynamic, and interdisciplinary. Current members include graduate students Roman Akhmetshyn, Dhvani Doshi, Jennifer Glover, Mahesh Herath, Georgia Mraz, Sarah Silverman and Jared Splinter, postdocs Vignesh Krishnamurthy, Giang Nguyen, as well as a rotating cast of undergraduate researchers. We write papers and win awards, including NSERC, NSF, FRQNT, and Tomlinson graduate fellowships, le Prix Relève étoile Louis-Berlinguet, a Banting Postoctoral Fellowship, a Harvey Richer Gold Medal, and a McDonald Fellowship. Previous team members include graduate students and postdocs Taylor Bell, Anne Boucher, Maggie Bruna, Lisa Dang, Claire Guimond, Dylan Keating, Mathilde Mâlin, Melissa Marquette, Keavin Moore, Thomas Navarro, Sara Rastegar, Joel Schwartz, Holly Sheets, Amy Steele, Lucas Teinturier, Huiyi (Cheryl) Wang, and Vincent Yariv, as well as undergraduates Claudia Bielecki, Dhruv Bisaria, Élie Bouffard, James Bushong, Victoria Chayes, Anthony Courchesne, Claude Cournoyer-Cloutier, Shereen Elaidi, Wanda Feng, Pablo Fuentes, Jackson Hoffart, CJ Hansen, Laurent Jacob, Elisa Jacquet, Diana Jovmir, Ned Kleiner, Daniel Law, Holly Marginson, Maximilien Lamberti, Evelyn Macdonald, Carl Majeau, Emily Pass, Louis Richez, Louis Shekhtman, Jack Sklar, Talia Strait, Sudarsan Sundararajan, Veenu Suri, Nicholas Vieira, and Mashiyat Zaman.
When not working, I can usually be found enjoying the outdoors.