Nicholas Scott

Alumni

University of Sydney

Biography

Nearby galaxies are the result of billions of years of cosmic history, from dramatic mergers of giant galaxies to the barely detectable frostings of residual star formation. The goal of my research is to identify what events have been critical in shaping nearby galaxies, and connect the present-day properties of galaxies to their formation histories. I do this primarily using spatially resolved spectroscopy to study the ages, chemisty and motions of stars within galaxies, searching for the signatures of past events. I am a key member of the SAMI and Hector teams, leading the data reduction efforts within both projects, as well as studying stellar population trends within these large galaxy surveys. I also lead or co-lead several smaller projects, including studying dwarf galaxies in the nearby Fornax cluster and trying to connect our own Milky Way to its extragalactic siblings using the MUSE instrument on the VLT.