Hometown: Greenville, Illinois
Faculty mentor: Casey DeRoo, PhD, associate professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dustin Swarm is a high-energy astrophysicist who studies the extreme conditions of the universe: hot gas, massive stars, explosive events, and extreme gravitational and magnetic fields. Swarm is designing telescope mirrors that will focus light from positrons in our galaxy. Positrons are electrons with a positive charge, which produce light when they collide with an electron. Because these collisions are incredibly energetic, conventional telescopes are unable to focus the light they produce. Swarm’s research would enable telescopes potentially to see this energy, allowing researchers to explore what makes these positrons.

Swarm’s goal is to become an astronomy professor at a research-focused university, which would allow him to deepen and expand his research while mentoring and training the next generation of space scientists.

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