Alyson Brooks, Ph.D.

Alyson Brooks is a theoretical astrophysicist who interprets observational results in the light of galaxy formation theory. She creates some of the highest resolution cosmological simulations of galaxies ever achieved, following galaxy evolution from soon after the Big Bang to the present day. Dr. Brooks is an expert in both the formation of galaxies as well as astrophysical constraints on dark matter. She earned a B.A. in physics from Macalester College in 2000 and a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Washington in 2008. She was a Sherman Fairchild Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech from 2008 to 2011, and the Grainger Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison from 2011 to 2013, before joining the faculty at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Dr. Brooks is the recipient of multiple NASA and NSF grants, and was named a 2015 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. She was presented the Outstanding Teaching Award by the Rutgers Society of Physics Students in 2016, and the 2017 Rutgers School of Arts & Sciences Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Education. She was awarded the Maria Goeppert Mayer award by the American Physical Society in 2019.