Teaching
Teaching & mentoring
I am happy to hear from students interested in orbital dynamics, protoplanetary disks, or the dynamics of black holes in AGN disks — whether for a project, a reading course, or informal advice. The best way to reach me is by email.
Students mentored
Jupiter Ding
Graduate student, Northwestern University
Protoplanetary-disk research
Jesse Richter
Undergraduate student, Northwestern University
Dieran Wang
Undergraduate student, Shandong University — subsequently a Ph.D. student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Lead author of Wang, Li & Lai (2026), ApJ 996, 3
Kecheng Qian
Undergraduate researcher, Cornell University — subsequently a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley
Lead author of Qian, Li & Lai (2024), ApJ 962, 143
Teaching assistant
Cornell University
Our Solar System · From New Worlds to Black Holes
University of Toronto
Calculus for Mathematics Students · Introductory Physics · Linear Algebra II · Discrete Mathematics
Outreach
Working with students outside the usual pipeline is a reminder that educational opportunity, prior experience and level of preparation vary a great deal — and that curiosity and scientific potential are not defined by any of them.
REACH — Research Experiences in Astronomy at CIERA
I took part in REACH at Northwestern University, helping high-school students develop programming skills and gain a first exposure to astronomical research.
Gashora Girls Academy, Rwanda
I have twice joined one grade of high-school students at Gashora Girls Academy over Zoom, to talk about myself and my research journey and to answer their questions.