204 Rue de L'Hôpital
Montréal, QC H2Y1V8
carterrhea93@gmail.com
carterrhea@astro.umontreal.ca

Carter Rhea

Ph.D. Observational Astrophysics

About me

Astrophysics and Programming

I recently completed my Ph.D. at the Université de Montréal studying Extra-Galactic Astrophysics. On this site you will be able to find my current and past projects as well as relevant information about me! My wife, Catherine, and I live in the old port of Montréal with our two adorable cats (plenty of photos to come!). We love skating and strolling around historic Montréal. In addition to studying Astronomy at UdeM (l'Université de Montréal), I study French, Spanish, and Russian.

After my first stint at as graduate student at Duke University in computational mechanics and scientific computing, I returned to astrophysics by joining Dr. Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo’s high-energy astrophysics team at l’Université de Montréal. Immersing myself in the astronomy life in Montreal,

Work Experience

CURRENT AND PREVIOUS POSITIONS

IA Specialist

Iuvo-AI
June 2024

As an AI specialist at Iuvo-AI, I interface with our clientele, develop machine-learning based solution, and deploy the solutions so that they are readily available.

  • Computer Vision
  • Large-Language Models
  • API Development/Deployment

Doctoral Candidate

L'Université de Montréal
September 2020 - July 2024

My research focuses on bringing machine learning techniques to both optical and X-ray spectroscopy. A large portion of my thesis working focus on developing machine learning applications for the Canada-France-Hawai'i Telescope which can be found at https://github.com/sitelle-signals/Pamplemousse.

Consultant in Open Source Software

Savoir-Faire Linux
December 2021 - May 2022

I worked as a front-end web developper at SFL for 6 months. During this time, I focused on my web-programming skills and working in groups with varying experience.

Research Intern

Canada France Hawaii Telescope
February 2020 - May 2020

I am completing a three month internship at the CFHT working with Dr. Laurie Rousseau-Nepton. We are working on integrating machine learning techniques into the data analysis of the CFHT instrument Sitelle.

  • Sitelle
  • Convolutional Neural Networks

Research Assistant (Master's Student)

L'Université de Montréal
September 2018 - August 2020

As a graduate student, I focus on the dynamics of distant galaxy clusters undergoing extreme starburst activity. I am also working on a data reduction and analysis pipeline for archival Chandra data. My currently available work can be found at AstroTools Github. Another important piece of my recent research has been the creation of an archive of X-ray Galaxy Cluster using a reduction and analysis pipeline I created called LEMUR -- named after my cat . You can find the site here. My thesis focuses on the galaxy cluster SpARCS 1049+56 and the application of machine learning techniques to the field of observational astronomy.

  • SpARCS 1049+56
  • X-ray Data Analysis
  • Machine Learning

Research Assistant

Duke University
June 2016 - May 2018

I participated in several projects studying fracture mechanics and developing software for use in civil engineering applications. My master's thesis was a computational pipeline to effectively communicate between micro and macro scale physical processes in porous media fluid flow.

  • Particle Raft Fracture Mechanics
  • Porous Media Fluid Mechanics

Education

ACADEMIC CAREER

DOCTORAL DEGREE IN SCIENCE

L'Université de Montréal
GRADUATING IN AUGUST 2023(3 YEARS)

My PhD work consists of two primary projects -- both of which are related to machine learning in astronomy. The first project is to create a suite of machine learning tools tailored to the instrument SITELLE on the Canada-France-Hawai'i telescope. The second project is the application of machine learning techniques to X-ray spectral analysis.

MASTERS DEGREE IN SCIENCE

L'Université de Montréal
GRADUATED IN AUGUST 2020(2 YEARS)

My primary master's thesis is an X-ray study of the incredible galaxy cluster SpARCS1049+56 and the application of machine learning techniques to spectroscopy in observational astronomy. I also work on developing open-source astrophysics tools that can be found on my github page.

MASTERS DEGREE IN SCIENCE

DUKE UNIVERSITY
GRADUATED IN MAY 2018(2 YEARS)

Completed a MSc in Computational Mechanics and Scientific Computing in the Department of Civil Engineering. In addition to completing a master's thesis, I participated in the publication of an article on particulate raft fracture mechanics. My studies at Duke centered on software development for finite element methods in fluid/fracture mechanics.

BACHELORS OF SCIENCE AND ARTS

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
GRADUATED IN MAY 2016(4 YEARS)

As an undergraduate, I completed a Bachelor's of Science in Pure Mathematics with a minor in Geology and a Bachelor's of Arts in Astronomy with a minor in Russian Studies. I was fortunate enough to work with Dr. George Chartas and co-author a paper on microlensing events and quasars.

Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.

Technical Skills

I'M GOOD AT

PYTHON

EXPERT

I have been using Python for several years primarily for data anaylsis and as a wrapper language. Python is my go-to tool for any programming challenge.

C++

EXPERT

My time at Duke was spent immersed in C++; from my master's thesis to research to parallel computing classes, C++ served as my key ally.

Languages

I speak

Français

Courant

J'étudie à l'Université de Montréal et alors je parle français chaque jour! J'ai besoin d'améliorer toujours mais j'avais beaucoup des opportunités à présenter en français. Je suis toujours heureux à pratiquer :)

Espanol

Intermedio

À mi me encanta la lenguage espanol. Busco las opportunidades para practicar!

Русскйи Язык

Ученик

Когда я был младше, я учил русский язык в течении семи лет. Но, к сожалению, сейчас мне трудно разговаривать по-русски. При этом я всегда рад практиковать!

Personal and Work Images

MY PHOTOS