About me
I'm an astronomer from San Francisco, CA (USA), currently in my second year of graduate school at the University of Victoria in British Columbia (Canada).
Formally, my research focuses on discovering exoplanets through high-contrast instrumentation; on a personal note, I'm working towards developing instruments that will aid in imaging the first Earth-like exoplanet. In reality, I have a slew (ha-ha telescope joke) of space and ground based astronomy experience spanning direct-imaging simulations, development of adaptive optics (AO) systems, gamma-ray spectroscopy, space hardware, optical modeling, and vetting exoplanets via PSF fitting and astrometry.
My current job is working on my thesis project at the NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre within their AO group: Simulating, designing, and implementing a non-linear curvature wavefront sensor on our local 1.22-meter adaptive optics testbed "REVOLT." In addition to this instrument work, I spend time as an astronomer, searching for and identifying sub-Jupiter mass exoplanets and protoplanetary disks with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) using data from it's Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam), mostly in coronagraphic modes. If you're interested in hearing more (and learning what some of these terms here mean) check out my research page.
If you've got questions about collaborating, about being a graduate student, or just curious to ask an astronomer about the search for Earth-like worlds, Feel free to contact me at my current academic address: klausss'at'uvic'dot'edu
To the left is a picture of me (06/2025) at the Shane Telescope located at Lick Observatory, CA, USA celebrating my graduation from my undergraduate institution, the University of California, Santa Cruz.