Valeria Lopez
Hi! I'm Valeria — an astrophysicist studying how galaxies grow and how black holes feed.
I work on AGN feedback, ionizing spectra, and the light that escapes the earliest galaxies. Right now I'm an NRAO research fellow, and next I'm off to the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.
Research
Joint HST/COS + JWST/MIRI analysis of eight Lyman-continuum-emitting galaxies. I built a CLOUDY photoionization pipeline in Python and χ² fit mid-IR diagnostics per galaxy. Result: no systematic mid-IR difference between LyC leakers and non-leakers — consistent with a geometric origin for LyC escape.
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HONORS & AWARDS
📋 Publications
4 papersUsing VLASS × DESI, we measure [O III] and [O I] outflow kinematics for 97 AGN and test whether outflow velocity correlates with compact radio source size, comparing Seyfert and LINER excitation classes.
We combine HST/COS Lyman-continuum measurements with JWST/MIRI mid-IR lines and CLOUDY grids to constrain the ionizing spectral shape of LyC leakers, finding no systematic mid-IR separation from non-leakers.
A radial-velocity population study across 28 systems examining the dynamical relationship between hot and cold Jupiters and its implications for planet formation.
An examination of the ethics and politics of large telescope siting, arguing for community-centered frameworks in the infrastructure of observational astronomy.
★ Presentations ★
