Dr. Christopher Shingledecker

Prior to coming to Benedictine College, Christopher N. Shingledecker was an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral research fellow in Germany, with appointments at both the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Munich and the University of Stuttgart. His research is in theoretical/ computational molecular astrophysics (astrochemistry), with a focus on the interactions between cosmic rays and ice-covered stardust grains. From the University of Virginia, he received both a B.Sc., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa (2013) and later a Ph.D. (2018) with Eric Herbst. He is one of the recipients of the 2017 Rao Prize, which was presented at the 74th International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, and has more than 20 published papers in journals including Science, Nature Astronomy, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Astrophysical Journal. His work was also recently highlighted in the 2019 Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC) brochure, designed to showcase major recent computational research for US federal lawmakers.

Education

• Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow
  Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, University of Stuttgart, 2018-2020
• Ph.D. Physical Chemistry
  University of Virginia, 2018
• B.S. Chemistry and Astronomy
  University of Virginia, 2013

Research

Dr. Shingledecker’s research focuses on molecules in space, and what they tell us about the physicochemical evolution of the kinds of interstellar clouds that go on to form stars and planets.

Group Webpage

https://www.shingledecker.org/

Publications

An up-to-date list of Dr. Shingledecker’s publications can be found here.