Keziah Sheldon

Keziah Sheldon is an undergraduate physics major with a minor in mathematics. She has been active in research beginning with her STAR project with Dr. Gordon Richards, and continues working with him on a project that explores the possibility of using quasars as cosmological distance probes through searching for underlying trends in spectral emission parameters, culminating in her senior thesis 'Can quasars be used for cosmology?'. She has been active in societies such as the Women in Physics Society (President 2017-18, VP 2018-19) as well as the Society of Physics Students, and the coordinator for the WIPS hosted series 'Happy Science Fun Night,' an informal event (with snacks) for undergrads and grads to discuss their research. She was a SURP student for the Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto (summer 2017) working on a quasar luminosity function cosmology project with Renée Hložek. She has presented her research at AAS 2018, APS 2015, and Physcon 2016, as well as the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (2016,2017). In addition to physics, she is also a cellist and has also been active in the Drexel Symphony Orchestra since 2014, and served as cello principal (2016,2019) as well as the winner of the DUSO 2016 Solo Competition with the first movement of the Elgar Cello Concerto. She has many other interests including coffee roasting (& drinking), writing sci-fi, and restoring manual typewriters.

Through the Fulbright, she will be working in the quantum photonics lab of Dr. Philip Walther at the University of Vienna, constructing a single-photon detector by using an entangled multi-photon system via an interferometric setup combined with superconducting nanowires. As a cellist, she will also be interfacing with the local music community in Vienna through ensemble and group performance.