Welcome!

I’m Catherine, an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University (2024-2027). I am an observer, which means I use data from telescopes to understand the cosmos. As a stellar archaeologist, I study the chemical compositions of Milky Way stars to understand how stars form, how they synthesize elements, and how our Milky Way disk has evolved into what it looks like today.

I received my PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin in 2024. I was advised by Prof. Keith Hawkins.

All photography on this website was taken by me at McDonald Observatory in West Texas.

 
A portrait style photo of Catherine Manea. She is wearing a white button down shirt and her hair is in a ponytail. She is smiling while looking at the camera.