FNR Fellowship for Dr. Pierre Gratia

Dr. Pierre Gratia hold a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago. He will be performing research for NASA in exoplanetary planet-planet searching. In his current work, he is evaluating the consequences of gravitational scattering applied to the particular exoplanet system Kepler-56. At NASA ARC, he will investigate the mechanism in a broader scope, and collaborate with the exoplanet group at Northwestern University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA). Under the supervision of Dr. Frederic Rasio, he will expand on previous findings and examine the prevalence of spin-orbit misalignment, as well as consider scattering under more general circumstances. He will apply models to other planetary systems found by Kepler, K2, and future missions, such as Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).