About me
I'm an astronomer and astrophysicist from San Francisco, CA, currently in my first year of graduate school at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.
Having done my bachelor's in astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) my research focuses on discovering exoplanets through instrumentation. I have experience spanning direct-imaging simulations, adaptive optics (adaptive optics), gamma-ray spectroscopy, space instrumentation, vetting exoplanets via PSF fitting, and astrometric exoplanet vetting. If you're interested in hearing more check out my research page.
My current job is working on my thesis at the NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre within their AO group. My dissertation is on the simulation, development, and implementation of a non-linear curvature wavefront sensor on our local adaptive optics testbed 'REVOLT,' hosted on the 1.2-meter McKellar Telescope. I've also worked a slew (ha ha telescope joke) of jobs in the past, most recently (2025), I worked for the University of California Observatories (UCO) in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) identifying exoplanets and thinking about follow-up proposals for several JWST NIRCam coronagraphic imaging programs led by a number of awesome collagues from around the world. 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.