AoT: Vermont Launch Event!

The first event of Astronomy on Tap: Vermont!

Speaker Dr. James Cooney’s talk is titled*“How old is the universe (and how do we know)?”* Dr. James Cooney is an astrophysicist and faculty member at UVM who studies cosmology and the large-scale structure of the universe. He is a decorated instructor and co-host of the fun astronomy podcast Walkabout the Galaxy.

Speaker Kendall Sippy’s talk is titled*“Could growing supermassive black holes make galaxies uninhabitable?”* Kendall Sippy (they/them) is a post-baccalaureate researcher at Middlebury College, originally from the greater Boston area. They graduated with a bachelor’s in physics and astronomy in 2024 and are going on to begin their astronomy PhD this coming fall. They are currently studying X-ray radiation from neutron stars, but have also previously researched active black holes and exoplanet habitability.