Curriculum Vitae


Appointments

Sept 2024 - : Torres Postdoctoral Fellow for Exoplanet Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Education

2024: PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2022: MA in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2019: BSc in Honours Physics and Astronomy Co-op, English Language and Literature Minor, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Selected Awards

May 2024: Fireman Prize, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Awarded for an outstanding doctoral thesis in observational astronomy
Jan 2024: Rodger Doxsey Travel Prize, AAS 243, New Orleans, LA
Awarded to ten graduating students based on the scientific merit of their dissertation research
June 2019: President's Award of Excellence, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON
Awarded to the graduating student with the top academic standing in the Faculty of Science
Mar 2018: National Co-op Student of the Year, Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada, Toronto, ON
Awarded to the top co-op student in Canada
May 2014: Schulich Leader Scholarship, The Schulich Foundation, Toronto, ON
Full four-year undergraduate scholarship awarded for academic excellence and extracurricular leadership

Research Awards

Sept 2021 - Aug 2024: Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (converted to PGS-D), NSERC
Sept 2019 - Aug 2022: James Mills Peirce Fellowship, Harvard University
May 2019 - Aug 2019: Undergraduate Student Research Award, NSERC
May 2018 - Aug 2018: Trottier Excellence Grant, Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx)
May 2018 - Aug 2018: Undergraduate Student Research Award, NSERC
Sept 2017 - Dec 2017: New Technologies for Canadian Observatories (NTCO) CREATE Trainee, NSERC
Jan 2017 - Apr 2017: Undergraduate Student Research Award, NSERC
Sept 2016 - Dec 2016: CPSX Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Award, Western University

Refereed First-Authored Publications

  1. Pass, E., Cargile, P., DiTomasso, V., et al. Metallicities from High-Resolution TRES Spectra with The Payne and uberMS: Performance Benchmarks and Literature Comparison. Submitted to ApJS (arXiv:2506.18961).
  2. Pass, E., Charbonneau, D, and Vanderburg, A. The Receding Cosmic Shoreline of Mid-to-Late M Dwarfs: Measurements of Active Lifetimes Worsen Challenges for Atmosphere Retention by Rocky Exoplanets. ApJL, Volume 986, Issue 1, June 2025 (arXiv:2504.01182; press coverage).
  3. Pass, E., Charbonneau, D., Latham, D., et al. The Mass Dependence of Hα Emission and Stellar Spindown for Fully Convective M Dwarfs. ApJ, Volume 966, Issue 2, May 2024 (arXiv:2401.10167).
  4. Pass, E., Winters, J., Charbonneau, D., et al. HST/WFC3 Light Curve Supports a Terrestrial Composition for the Closest Exoplanet to Transit an M Dwarf. AJ, Volume 166, Issue 4, October 2023 (arXiv:2307.02970; press release).
  5. Pass, E., Winters, J., Charbonneau, D., Irwin, J., and Medina, A. Active Stars in the Spectroscopic Survey of Mid-to-Late M Dwarfs Within 15pc. AJ, Volume 166, Issue 1, July 2023 (arXiv:2306.00799).
  6. Pass, E., Winters, J., Charbonneau, D., et al. Mid-to-Late M Dwarfs Lack Jupiter Analogs. AJ, Volume 166, Issue 1, July 2023 (arXiv:2305.19357; press release).
  7. Pass, E. and Charbonneau, D. G 68-34: A Double-lined M-Dwarf Eclipsing Binary in a Hierarchical Triple System. ApJ, Volume 949, Issue 2, June 2023 (arXiv:2304.02466).
  8. Pass, E., Charbonneau, D., Irwin, J., and Winters, J. Constraints on the Spindown of Fully Convective M Dwarfs Using Wide Field Binaries. ApJ, Volume 936, Issue 2, Sept. 2022 (arXiv:2206.15318).
  9. Pass, E., Cowan, N., Cubillos, P., and Sklar, J. Estimating dayside effective temperatures of hot Jupiters and associated uncertainties through Gaussian process regression. MNRAS, Volume 489, Issue 1, Oct. 2019 (arXiv:1908.02631).
  10. Pass, E., Metchev, S., Brown, P., and Beauchemin, S. Pipeline for the Detection of Serendipitous Stellar Occultations by Kuiper Belt Objects with the Colibri Fast-Photometry Array. PASP, Volume 130, Issue 983, Jan. 2018 (arXiv:1711.00358).

Refereed Co-Authored Publications

  1. Jenkins, S., Vanderburg, A., Sethi, R., Millholland, S., Rodriguez, J., Fossati, L., Krenn, A., Pass, E., et al. An Eccentric Sub-Neptune Moving Into the Evaporation Desert. Submitted to ApJL (arXiv:2505.10324).
  2. Soubkiou, A., Barkaoui, K., Benkhaldoun, Z., [and 42 others, including Pass, E.] TOI-1846b: A super-Earth in the radius valley orbiting a nearby M dwarf. MNRAS, in press.
  3. Cote, P., Wood, E., Hutchings, J., [and 177 others, including Pass, E.] The CASTOR mission. JATIS, Volume 11, Issue 4, May 2025 (doi:0.1117/1.JATIS.11.4.042202).
  4. Marshall, M., Amen, L., Woods, T., Côté, P., Yung, L., Amenouche, M., Pass, E., et al. FORECASTOR -- II. Simulating Galaxy Surveys with the Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope for Optical and UV Research. MNRAS, Volume 537, Issue 2, Feb 2025 (arXiv:2402:17163).
  5. Barkaoui, K., Schwarz, R., Narita, N., [and 53 others, including Pass, E.] Three short-period Earth-sized planets around M dwarfs discovered by TESS: TOI-5720 b, TOI-6008 b, and TOI-6086 b. A&A, Volume 687, July 2024 (arXiv.2405.06350).
  6. Timmermans, M., Dransfield, G., Gillon, M., [and 54 others, including Pass, E.] TOI-4336 A b: A temperate sub-Neptune ripe for atmospheric characterization in a nearby triple M-dwarf system. A&A, Volume 687, July 2024 (arXiv:2404.12722).
  7. Ment, K., Charbonneau, D., Irwin, J., Winters, J., Pass, E., et al. LHS 475 b: A Potential Venus Analog Orbiting a Nearby M Dwarf. AJ, Volume 167, Issue 5, May 2024 (arXiv:2304.01920).
  8. Chapman, S., Hill, R., Aravena, M., [and 29 others, including Pass, E.] Brightest Cluster Galaxy Formation in the z = 4.3 Protocluster SPT 2349-56: Discovery of a Radio-loud Active Galactic Nucleus. ApJ, Volume 961, Issue 1, Jan. 2024 (arXiv:2301.01375).
  9. Incha, E., Vanderburg, A., Jacob, T., LaCourse, D., Bieryla, A., Pass, E., et al. Kepler's Last Planet Discoveries: Two New Planets and One Single-Transit Candidate from K2 Campaign 19. MNRAS, Volume 523, Issue 1, Jul. 2023 (arXiv:2305.18516; press release).
  10. Mazur, M., Metchev, S., Brown, R., Gupta, R., Bloch, R., Mills, T, and Pass, E.. The Colibri Telescope Array for KBO Detection through Serendipitous Stellar Occultations: a Technical Description. Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, Volume 9, Oct. 2022 (arXiv:2210.05808).
  11. Rotermund, K., Chapman, S., Phadke, K., Hill, R., Pass, E., et al. Optical and near-infrared observations of the SPT2349-56 proto-cluster core at z = 4.3. MNRAS, Volume 502, Issue 2, Apr. 2021 (arXiv:2006.15345).
  12. Miller, T., Chapman, S., Aravena, M., [and 35 others, including Pass, E.] A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3. Nature, Volume 556, Issue 7702, Apr. 2018 (arXiv:1804.09231; press release).

Non-Refereed Publications

  1. Cote, P., Abraham, B., Balogh, M., [and 49 others, including Pass, E.] CASTOR: A Flagship Canadian Space Telescope. Canadian Long Range Plan for Astronomy and Astrophysics White Papers, LRP2020, id.18, Oct. 2019 (http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3758463).

Conference Talks

  1. Binary Stars in the Space Era, Keele University, Keele, UK. July 2025.
  2. Annual Meeting of the Canadian Astronomical Society / Société Canadienne d'Astronomie (CASCA), Saint Mary's University, Halifax, NS. June 2025.
  3. Exoplanets 5, Leiden, Netherlands. June 2024.
  4. Extreme Solar Systems V, Christchurch, New Zealand. Mar. 2024.
  5. AAS 243, New Orleans, LA. Jan. 2024.
  6. GMT Community Science Meeting on Exoplanets: Atmospheres to Architectures, Washington, DC. Sept. 2023.
  7. Towards Other Earths III: The Planet-Star Connection, Porto, Portugal. July 2023.
  8. Origins of Solar Systems Gordon Research Seminar, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA. June 2023.
  9. AAS 241, Seattle, WA. Jan. 2023.
  10. TESS Science Team Meeting #29, Cambridge, MA. Oct. 2022.
  11. Cool Stars 21 ("What's up with spin down" splinter), Toulouse, France. July 2022.
  12. Other Worlds Laboratory Exoplanet Summer Program, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. June 2019.

Conference Posters

  1. Origins of Solar Systems Gordon Research Conference, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA. June 2023.
  2. Exoplanets IV, Las Vegas, NV. May 2022.
  3. CASCA, McGill University, Montreal, QC. June 2019.
  4. New Technologies for Canadian Observatories (NTCO) CREATE Annual General Meeting, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. Dec. 2017.
  5. CASCA, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB. May 2017.

Invited Talks

  1. Astro Seminar, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. Feb. 2024.
  2. Exoplanets & Stars Seminar, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Feb. 2024.
  3. iREx Seminar, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC. Feb. 2024.
  4. Astro Seminar, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON. Jan. 2024.
  5. Astro Seminar, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY. Nov. 2022.
  6. Seminar, East Asian Observatory Office, Hilo, HI. Nov. 2017.

Local Talks

  1. Boston Area Planetary Science Meeting, MIT, Cambridge, MA. May 2025.
  2. Harvard-MIT Planetary Meeting, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. May 2024.
  3. Institute for Theory and Computation Luncheon, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA. Apr. 2023.
  4. Student-Faculty Forum, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA. Feb. 2023.
  5. Exoplanet Pizza Lunch, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA. Dec. 2022.
  6. Chalk Talk, Harvard Origins of Life Initiative, Cambridge, MA. Nov. 2022.
  7. Summer Luncheon, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA. Jun. 2022.
  8. Astronomy Department Research Forum, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA. Mar. 2022.
  9. Exoplanet Pizza Lunch, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA. Aug. 2020.

Time Awarded - Principal Investigator Observing Programs

2025a: WINERED - Magellan Clay 6.5m (2 nights)
Magnetic Field Strengths of Low-Mass M dwarfs with WINERED: Calibration and First Glimpse Inside the Rotation-Period Gap
2025a: IGRINS-2 - Gemini North 8.1m (9.9 hours)
A Complicated Adolescence? Probing the Magnetic Field Strengths of Fully Convective M Dwarfs During Their Transition from Activity to Quiescence
2025: JWST Cycle 3 (22.5 hours)
A Search for Exoplanet Satellites that are the Same Size as the Earth's Moon
Aug 2023 - July 2024: FAST - FLWO 1.5m (12 nights)
Probing the Activity-Rotation Correlation for the Lowest-Mass M Dwarfs
2023b: MAROON-X - Gemini North 8.1m (14.4 hours)
Are Thick-Disk Terrestrial Planets Iron Poor, as Planet Formation Models Predict?
2023b: MAROON-X - Gemini North 8.1m (14.4 hours)
Calibrating a Metallicity Relation for Mid-to-Late M Dwarfs
Feb 2023 - July 2023: TRES - FLWO 1.5m (2 nights)
TRES Follow-up of Benchmark Systems for Investigating M-Dwarf Spindown
Aug 2022 - July 2023: FAST - FLWO 1.5m (8.8 nights)
Identifying Benchmark Systems for Investigating M-Dwarf Spindown Using Halpha Emission
2022a: MAROON-X - Gemini North 8.1m (4.5 hours)
Discovery of Three Giant Planets Orbiting Two Nearby Low-mass M Dwarfs
Jan 2021 - July 2022: TRES - FLWO 1.5m (23 nights)
Calibrating a Near-IR Metallicity Relation for Mid-to-Late M Dwarfs

Teaching Assistantships

Jan 2021 - May 2021: GENED 1070, Life as a Planetary Phenomenon, Harvard University
Jan 2020 - May 2020: ASTRON 16, Stellar and Planetary Astronomy, Harvard University
Sept 2015 - Dec 2015: CHEM 120L, General Chemistry Laboratory 1, University of Waterloo

Industry Experience

Jan 2016 - Apr 2016: Quality Assurance Developer (Co-op), Validus Research Inc, Waterloo, ON

Volunteer Experience & Outreach

Aug 2023 - Mar 2024: Shortform Blog Editor-in-Chief, Science in the News, Cambridge, MA
Apr 2023 - Mar 2024: Shortform Blog Writer, Science in the News, Cambridge, MA
Feb 2022 - Aug 2023: Longform Blog Editor, Science in the News, Cambridge, MA
Sept 2019 - Mar 2020: Session Leader, Harvard Observing Project, Cambridge, MA
Jan 2019 - Apr 2019: President, Waterloo Space Society, Waterloo, ON
May 2018 - Aug 2018: Astronomy Outreach Volunteer, Astro McGill, Montreal, QC
Sept 2017 - Dec 2017: Innovation Assistant, Discovery Centre, Halifax, NS
May 2017 - Aug 2017 President, Waterloo Space Society, Waterloo, ON
Sept 2016 - Nov 2016: Science Writer, CurioCity, London, ON
May 2016 - Aug 2016: Outreach Volunteer, Let's Talk Science, Waterloo, ON
Sept 2014 - Dec 2018: Communications Manager, Waterloo Space Society, Waterloo, ON

Interviews and Public Talks

Feb 2025: “Small Town Universe post-film discussion panel," discussion panelist, Boston SciFi Film Festival, Somerville Theater
Feb 2025: “What the heck is out there? Looking to the worlds beyond ours," discussion panelist, Central Conversations for “SPACE”, Central Square Theater
Aug 2019: “Emily Pass on the new Colibri telescope array and her love of astronomy," radio interview, Fresh Air, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Department and Professional Service

2022 - : Journal Referee, The Astronomical Journal; The Astrophysical Journal Letters; Astronomy & Astrophysics
2020 - 2024: Organizer, Planetary Journal Club, Harvard University

Languages

English, native
French, fluent - Diplôme d'études en langue française (DELF) B2