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Sheila Kannappan, an astrophysicist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, received a $795,000 National Science Foundation award to analyze the components and structures of galaxies and the larger cosmic web in which they live.

Kannappan, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences, was granted the Faculty Early Career Development Award, an honor given to junior teacher-scholars who show promise for lifelong achievement in building integrative research and education programs.

Kannappan will conduct the RESOLVE (REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE) Survey to create an unprecedented view of gas, dark matter and stars in the nearby universe. She and her research group will have access to UNC’s partnership in the SOAR (Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research) and SALT (Southern African Large Telescope) telescopes in Chile and South Africa.

The project will train a new generation of scientists in future growth areas of astronomy: instrumentation, spectroscopy, radio astronomy and survey data-handling.

Kannappan will partner with Teach For America and other organizations at UNC to develop an astronomy enrichment curriculum for the state’s high schools as well as workshops to train teachers in mentoring student data analysis projects. The RESOLVE Survey Web site will provide a range of discovery activities and small research projects for high school and undergraduate students.

Website: http://resolve.astro.unc.edu

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