Caleb Painter

Hello! I'm Caleb. I'm an Astrophysics PhD student at Princeton University and an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. I studied Astronomy, Physics, and the History of Science at Harvard, where I graduated summa cum laude.

My research focuses on planetary systems and protoplanetary disks, and I work with telescope data from ground-based interferometers to X-ray observatories. I am specifically interested in the timescales of planetary formation, the mass reservoirs of disks, and the dynamics of older stellar and planetary systems.

I am also interested in the history of astronomy and how it has developed across different cultures. I spent my post-graduate year crewing traditional Polynesian sailboats and studying celestial navigation in New Zealand and Taiwan as a Michael C Rockefeller Fellow.

Beyond astronomy, I enjoy reading and writing, and am an alumnus of the Iowa Writers' Workshop summer program. When not in front of a screen or book, you can find me climbing, playing tennis, or failing at pottery.