Rate My Professor Louise Edwards

Louise Edwards is an Associate Professor in Physics. She holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Victoria (2001), an M.Sc. in Astronomy from Saint Mary's University (2003), and a Ph.D. in Physics from Université Laval (2007). Prior to her current role, she conducted postdoctoral research at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at the California Institute of Technology and Trent University. She served as Assistant Professor of Physics at Mount Allison University and as a Lecturer in the Astronomy Department at Yale University for four years. Edwards joined the faculty in 2016, where she teaches courses including Introduction to the Solar System, Introduction to Stars and Galaxies, Stars and Galaxies, and College Physics I, while mentoring numerous undergraduate researchers.

Edwards specializes in astronomy and astrophysics, with research interests in the formation and evolution of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), galaxies in cluster cores, and galaxies in filaments. Her work utilizes optical and infrared spectroscopy, photometric data from X-ray to radio wavelengths, and integral field spectroscopy surveys, such as those using SparsePak on the WIYN telescope. Key studies examine gas sloshing in clusters like Abell 1763, star formation in the Coma Cluster, and baryon content in the warm-hot intergalactic medium. She is principal investigator on NSF grant 2218943 to develop a CSU community of expert users for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, serving as a data preview delegate and commissioning team member. Notable publications include 'Efficient Detection of Emission-Line Galaxies in the CI0016+1609 and MACSJ1621.4+3810 Supercluster Filaments Using SITELLE' (2021), 'Clocking the formation of today's largest galaxies: wide field integral spectroscopy of brightest cluster galaxies and their surroundings' (2020), 'Stellar populations of BCGs, close companions and intracluster light in Abell 85, Abell 2457 and IIZw108' (2016), and 'A Multi-wavelength Analysis of Spitzer Selected Coma Cluster Galaxies: Star Formation Rates and Masses' (2011). Edwards has been appointed a CSU STEM-NET Faculty Fellow and honored for mentoring women of color in science. She has served on the Canadian Astronomical Society Education and Outreach committee, chaired Yale's Hoffleit Fellowship, co-chaired the Granville Institute, and acts as a CASCA Westar Lecturer, delivering public lectures widely.