Dawn Erb

Professor, Department of Physics
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Leonard E Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics
Kenwood IRC 4087
3135 N Maryland Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53211
tel 414 229 3654
fax 414 229 5589
erbd@uwm.edu

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Research Interests

• Galaxy formation and evolution
• Chemical evolution, kinematics and stellar populations of galaxies at high redshift
• Low mass galaxies at all redshifts
• Feedback processes in starburst galaxies
• Gas ejection and accretion in high redshift galaxies
• Evolution of the intergalactic medium at high redshift

Employment

• Professor, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Department of Physics, 2021 -
• Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Department of Physics, 2014 – 2021
• Visting Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin Madison Dept of Astronomy, 2014 -
• Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Department of Physics, 2010 – 2014
• Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin Madison Dept of Astronomy, 2010 – 2014
• Associate Editor, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 2013 - 2015
• Spitzer Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2008 – 2010
• CfA Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 2005 – 2008

Grants and Proposals

• National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Grant, 2019-2022 ($381K)
• National Science Foundation Early Career Award, 2013-2020 ($780K)
• Hubble Space Telescope (Cycles 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 15; total funds $390K)
• NASA Keck PI Data Awards (2013-2022, total funds $140K)
• University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Research Grant Initiative, 2019 ($73K)
• Herschel Telescope (OT2, $10K)
• University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Research Grant Initiative, 2010 ($307K)
• Spitzer Space Telescope (DDT, GO7, GO3)
• Observing proposals: Keck Observatory, Subaru Observatory, Very Large Telescope, Magellan Observatory, Palomar Observatory (2005- )

Awards and Honors

• Research Mentor of the Year, UWM Office of Undergraduate Research, 2020
• Wenner-Gren Foundation Visiting Researcher Award, Stockholm University, 2018
• Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science, 2018
• UWM Research Award, 2017
• Spitzer Fellowship, 2008
• Center for Astrophysics Fellowship, 2005
• Holloway Fellowship, Caltech, 2001
• Baer Prize in Astronomy, University of Washington, 2000
• Higgs-Osborn Prize in Experimental Physics, University of Washington, 2000

Outreach

• Advisor, UWM Astronomy Club, 2010 –
• Maker Faire Milwaukee, 2016, 2017, 2019
• Public lectures: Osher Lifetime Learning Institute, June 2019; Wehr Astronomical Society, October 2014, May 2016, April 2017; NCRAL 2014: Gazing at the Stars, April 2014; Yerkes Observatory, 2012; Milwaukee Astronomical Society presentation, 2012
• UWM Science Bag, February 2016: “95% Invisible: Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Quest to Understand the Universe"
• Presentations at Milwaukee public schools, 2012, 2013

Service

• Gemini Board of Directors, 2017 - 2019
• Space Telescope Users Committee, 2016 - 2019
• NOAO telescope allocation committee, 2012 - 2015
• Spitzer Space Telescope review panel, 2010, 2011 (panel chair), 2014 (panel chair), 2018
• NASA Postdoctoral Program review, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015
• NSF review panel, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2020
• Hubble Space Telescope review panel, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 (chair), 2022
• NRAO proposal review, 2007 – 2008
• Peer reviewer, 2004 – present: Nature, Science, The Astrophysical Journal, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, The Astronomical Journal, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Invited Conference Presentations

• "Mapping the circumgalactic medium with Lyα emission." GMT Community Science Meeting, Carlsbad, CA, September 2019
• "Small galaxies, big halos: Lyα emission in the CGM of low-mass galaxies at z~2." Small Galaxies, Cosmic Questions, Durham, UK, July 2019
• "Lyα Emission and the Circumgalactic Medium in Low Mass Galaxies." What matter(s) between galaxies, Spineto, Italy, June 2019
• "Lyα Emission and the Circumgalactic Medium in Low Mass Galaxies." Escape of Lyman radiation from galactic labyrinths, Kolymbari, Crete, Greece, September 2018
• "Lyα Emission in Low Metallicity Galaxies at z~2." Tokyo Spring Sakura Cosmic Ly𝛂 Workshop, University of Tokyo, March 2018
• “Observing Outflows at High Redshifts.” Characterizing Galaxies with Spectroscopy with a view for JWST, Lorentz Center, Leiden, Netherlands, October 2017
• “Star Formation and Feedback in Low Metallicity Galaxies at z~2.” Keynote presentation, MidAmerican Regional Astrophysics Conference, April 2017
• "The Rest-Frame UV Spectra of Low Mass Galaxies at z~2.” 32nd Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris Colloquium, Cosmic dawn of galaxy formation: linking observations and theory with new-generation spectral models. Paris, June 2016
• "Lyα Profiles and Lyman Continuum Emission in Star-Forming Galaxies.” Escape of Lyman radiation from galactic labyrinths, Kolymbari, Crete, Greece, April 2016
• "The physical conditions in young, low metallicity galaxies at high redshift.” Understanding Nebular Emission in High Redshift Galaxies, Pasadena, CA, July 2015
• “Galactic Outflows and Galactic Structure at z~2.” Good Sense and Dominant Ideology in Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Ascona, Swizterland, July 2014
• "Gas Flows and Galaxy Formation." Plenary talk, 221st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Long Beach, CA, January 2013
• "Rising Star Formation Histories and the Evolution of the Mass-Metallicity Relation." Galaxies: Insight Out, Leiden, July 2012
• "Rising Star Formation Histories and the Evolution of the Mass-Metallicity Relation." Metals in Tuscany, Spineto, Italy, June 2012
• “Chemical Abundances in Star-Forming Galaxies at High Redshift.” International Astronomical Union Symposium 265, Rio de Janeiro, August 2009
• “Star Formation and Chemical Enrichment in the Youngest Galaxies.” SFR@50, Spineto, Italy, July 2009
• “The Mass-Dependent Spectral Properties of High Redshift Galaxies.” Napa Valley Galaxy Evolution Workshop, Napa, CA, February 2009
• “Galaxy Metallicity in the Redshift Desert.” Harvesting the Desert: The Universe Between Redshifts 1 and 3, Marseille, July 2009
• “Observing Distant Galaxies with the GMT.” Science with the Giant Magellan Telescope, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, March 2008
• “Gas Masses and Gas Fractions: Applications of the Kennicutt-Schmidt Law at High Redshift.” University of California San Diego Kennicutt-Schmidt Workshop, December 2006
• “Galactic Winds, Galaxy Masses and Metallicities at 1 < z < 3: An observational perspective.” Chemodynamics: From First Stars to Local Galaxies, Lyon, July 2006

Colloquia and Seminars

• University of Arizona, November 2021
• NOIRLab, October 2021
• New York University, March 2019
• University of Oslo, December 2018
• University of Geneva, November 2018
• University of Copenhagen, November 2018
• Stockholm University, September 2018
• University of Kansas, April 2017
• University of Toronto, December 2016
• University of Wisconsin Madison, September 2016
• University of Arizona, March 2016
• University of Washington, March 2016
• Ohio State University, March 2016
• Arizona State University, September 2015
• Northwestern University, April 2015
• Space Telescope Science Institute, March 2014
• University of Virginia/NRAO, September 2013
• University of Minnesota, April 2013
• University of Texas Austin, March 2013
• University of Wisconsin Madison, February 2013
• Cornell University, November 2012
• University of Notre Dame, March 2012
• Indiana University, November 2011
• Northwestern University, April 2010
• University of Wisconsin Madison, April 2010
• University of Chicago, October 2009
• Texas A&M University, September 2009
• University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, March 2009
• Princeton University, February 2009
• University of Massachusetts Amherst, October 2008
• Carnegie Observatories, March 2008
• Harvard University, March 2008
• Ohio State University, February 2008
• University of Utah, January 2008
• University of Michigan, January 2008
• University of California San Diego, January 2008
• Harvard University, February 2007
• Space Telescope Science Institute, February 2007
• University of California Los Angeles, February 2007
• University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK, July 2006
• University of California Santa Cruz, May 2006
• University of Toronto, February 2006

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