Mentorship & Team

Building independent scientists in a collaborative, high-energy environment.

Zhang Lab group illustration

Principal Investigator

Ke Zhang

Prof. Ke (Coco) Zhang

Assistant Professor of Astronomy

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"My goal is to train the next generation of leaders in astronomy. In my lab, you are treated as a core collaborator from day one. We work together on the bleeding edge of observations to answer fundamental questions."

Student Success Stories

Undergraduate Leads

Our undergrads don't just do busywork. They analyze ALMA data. Recent students have been lead authors on ApJ papers and presented at national AAS conferences.

Award-Winning Fellows

We provide strong mentorship for fellowship applications. Multiple group members have successfully secured prestigious awards like the NSF GRFP.

Career Launchpad

We prepare you for the next step. Our alumni have gone on to top graduate programs.

Postdoctoral Fellow & Visiting Scientist

Abby Waggoner

Abby Waggoner

Postdoctoral Fellow

Personal Website

Nick Ballering

Nick Ballering

Visiting Scientist

Personal Website

Graduate Students

Estephani TorresVillanueva

Estephani TorresVillanueva

PhD Candidate, NSF GRFP

Tayt Armitage

Tayt Armitage

Graduate Student, , NSF GRFP

Eshan Raul

Eshan Raul

Graduate Student

Undergraduate Researchers

Nina Weichmann

Nina Weichmann

Undergraduate Researcher

WSGC Undergraduate Fellowship, Doherty Undergraduate Award

Carl Yao

Carl Yao

Undergraduate Researcher

Sophomore fellowship

Nick Tallon

Nick Tallon

Undergraduate Researcher

Sophomore fellowship, Peter Livingston Scholarship, WSGC Undergraduate Fellowship

Alonzo Ma

Alonzo Ma

Undergraduate Researcher

Group Alumni

Leon Trapman (Postdoc)

Now at a data science company in the Netherlands

Ella Chevalier (Undergrad)

Now PhD student at UC Berkeley

Vicki Braianova (Undergrad)

Now Master student at Autonomous Univ. of Madrid

Ben Trapistrant (Undergrad)

Now PhD student at University of Florida

Matt Kalscheur (Undergrad)

Now PhD student at CU Boulder

Olive Zhang (Undergrad)

Now PhD student at WashU St. Louis

Leopold Hutnik (Postbac)

Now PhD student at NMSU

Anna Conly (REU)

Now PhD student at NMSU