https://www.catherinemanea.com/posters daily 0.75 2019-01-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/1546469827185-YNOVIHZ1TFLJVRP3WUHN/poster_smallersize.png Posters Presented at the UC Santa Cruz Undergraduate Research Symposium, August 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/1546469979832-FCMQK3WYGC8WLWZZRDDP/AAS_poster_final.png Posters Presented at the American Astronomical Society’s 233rd Winter Conference, January 2019 https://www.catherinemanea.com/nsf daily 0.75 2025-08-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/1720756561366-U1RU5UG0YJAJWUIF1H5Q/IMG_0037.jpg NSF AAPF Materials https://www.catherinemanea.com/test daily 0.75 2026-10-06 https://www.catherinemanea.com/home daily 1.0 2026-10-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/c14dffb4-b59c-4de0-ba5d-18ccdf79ac9f/mcdonald.png Home - Make it stand out McDonald Observatory’s 2.1m telescope, as seen from the catwalk of the 2.7m telescope. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/aba8a129-7839-45c4-b93e-0c489f485663/20251124_133546.jpg Home - Make it stand out Catherine and her pup Pepper at Fisher Towers in Southern Utah. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/2e683885-b0bd-4eee-ad1e-bc51ba6e5ee0/Screenshot-2020-02-18-at-10.21.40-26b65cb-e1582021364166.webp Home - Make it stand out I collect and analyze stellar spectra to constrain stellar compositions and learn about the origin of the chemical elements and the evolution of our Milky Way. Credit: Will Gater https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/c0aa06ba-30dd-4c22-95a2-533521861879/a Home - Ellie Mebius University of Utah 2026-ongoing “Why are some stars enhanced in refractory elements while others are not, and how unusual is our Sun?” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/e957df6f-11d0-42cc-8151-afc6ba66b5b3/headshot.jpg Home - Aleksandra Winkler University of Utah 2026-ongoing “What causes some stars to be extremely rich in the element lithium?” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/654e2ce3-d272-43c2-a77e-fc445e3ef66a/stock.jpg Home - Okerike Nyambane Onchiri Columbia University 2025-ongoing “Can we predict a star’s dynamical behavior in the Milky Way using just its chemical compositions?” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/060425e0-3091-4666-ba20-486d4e420a1a/chloe.jpeg Home - Chloe Renard-Robins Columbia University 2025-2026 “Can neutron-capture elements help us better identify groups of stars that formed together in the Milky Way?” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/110b4d60-a4a0-45e2-aa2c-d6b867f940d5/jaden.jpeg Home - Jaden Levine* University of Texas at Austin 2022-2026 “Why are some stars extremely rich in the neutron-capture elements, and how many such stars exist in our Milky Way?” *Now a PhD student at New Mexico State University https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/fb16b38d-6ace-4a8e-972c-5a34a147faa8/lipika.jpg Home - Lipika Chatur* University of Texas at Austin 2023-2024 “How do star clusters become dissipated into the Galactic disk, and what can we learn from the tidal tails of open clusters?” *Now a PhD student at the University of Arizona https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/ec514e7c-0740-4ee3-bbca-fa5147263a87/stock.jpg Home - Emily Wade University of Texas at Austin 2021-2023 “Are there extremely fast-moving stars in our Milky Way, and if so, why?” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/b0686e1a-ddac-415e-8d23-0e8d4bfae111/A853E6D7-D467-4A3B-BECC-E80A35A8EC6B_1_105_c.jpeg Home In October 2026, I was fortunate enough to fly two of my students to McDonald Observatory and teach them how to observe with the Tull Coudé Spectrograph on the Harlan J. Smith 2.7m telescope. (From left to right: Catherine Manea, Ellie Mebius, and Aleksandra Winkler) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c0edfee620b85c81c0233bb/9bd1073a-1fcb-4399-9bf1-3c11323b853f/aot.jpg Home - Make it stand out Catherine giving an Astronomy on Tap talk in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo Credit: Amaya Sinha