Searching for the Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitor

Robert Mesler obtained his BS in physics, with minors in math and astronomy, from James Madison University in Virginia. While at JMU, he co-founded the JMU Astronomy Club. He also participated in a summer REU program at East Tennessee State University, where he performed differential photometry on Post-AGB stars and did a little work with the 0.9 meter SARA telescope at Kitt Peak, looking for optical GRB afterglows. After graduation, Mesler was accepted to the University of New Mexico’s Physics and Astronomy graduate program, and he obtained his MS in physics in 2011. At UNM, he has worked on a variety of projects, including the DRIFT dark matter instrument, particle air shower theory, and detection of OH masers in the galactic center. He has co-authored seven papers, four of which he is the lead author. Mesler will be defending his PhD in October 2013.