Jackson Taylor

Hometown: Bloomington, Indiana, USA

Hobbies: Basketball, trombone, history books, board games, and hiking

One interesting fact: West Virginia is the sixth state I've lived in.

Q&A with Jackson

• What are your favorite things about the department?
• I'm around friendly people who share similar curiosities as I do.
• What do you think is the most interesting thing about your research?
• My current research topic is trying to detect asteroids around pulsars with binary companions, but more specifically, "exotrojan" asteroids that appear to lead or trail a pulsar's companion. What I find most interesting about this work is how studying the physics of such systems and developing new techniques to detect those exotrojans can turn pulsar signals that appear to be noise into signals confirming the existence of exotrojans around pulsars. While I'm certain exotrojans exist, it's still yet to be seen if our current record of observations is complete and accurate enough to reveal them.
• Why did you want to pursue physics?
• I imagine myself to be a lifelong learner and want to contribute to our goal of exploring the universe and our place in it.
  
• Why did you choose West Virginia University?
• The department was immediately so welcoming and hosts several world-class pulsar astronomers.
• How have your professors and/or staff helped you be successful?
• My advisor has helped steer me with thought-provoking questions and has obliged me to understand my topic sufficiently enough so that I can explain it to others. I prefer working in the office over working at home, so the incredible organization of the staff has made White Hall a pleasant place to work. This includes anything from office supplies and printer help to setting me up with an excellent office space.
• What advice would you give to an incoming student?
• You can't ask too many questions or get to know too many people.