Dr. Jane Rigby is a civil servant Astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Rigby serves as the Operations Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Complete CV (PDF)
Research webpage
Publications on ADS
Star-forming galaxies
Galaxies undergo vigorous bursts of star formation that quickly build up stellar mass, and may, through violent outflows, prevent future star formation. Dr. Rigby investigates the evolution of star formation in galaxies through cosmic time, using multiwavelength spectroscopy and photometry.
Gravitational Lensing
Rare gravitational lenses act like "nature's telescopes", magnifying the background universe by factors of up to 100x, enabling Dr. Rigby and collaborators to peer inside normal galaxies at the epoch of galaxy assembly.
Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN)
Much of the growth of supermassive black holes is hidden from us, due to large columns of obscuring gas and dust. Dr. Rigby studies these obscured active galactic nuclei, with a focus on their multiwavelength properties, and how to identify the subset that are highly obscured.
Future telescopes
Rigby supports the development of future NASA mission concepts. Rigby serves on the Science & Technology Definition Team for the Large UV/Optical/Infrared Telescope (LUVOIR) mission concept.
9/2010
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Present
Astrophysicist
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD
9/2006
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8/2010
Spitzer Fellow and Carnegie Fellow
The Carnegie Observatories,
Pasadena, CA
9/2000
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6/2003
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
The University of Arizona,
Tucson, AZ
Ph.D., Astronomy, March 2006, The University of Arizona
M.S., Astronomy, May 2003, The University of Arizona
B.S., Physics, May 2000, with Highest Distinction, Penn State
B.S., Astronomy and Astrophysics, May 2000, with Honors and Highest Distinction, Penn State
- 2018 - John C. Lindsay Memorial Award for Space Science
- 2016 - Robbert H. Goddard Award for Science to the JWST Project Science Team
- 2015 - Peer Award, Astrophysics Science Division, NASA GSFC
- 2014 - NASA Group Achievement Award to the NuSTAR Science Team
- 2014 - Robert H. Goddard Award for Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity
- 2013 - Robert H. Goddard Award for Exceptional Achievement for Science
- 2013 - Outstanding Alumni Award, Eberly College of Science, Penn State
