Contact Information

• zhutchen@unca.edu

Bio

Zack Hutchens is an astrophysicist interested in the growth and evolution of galaxies over cosmic time. His research uses multiple state-of-the-art galaxy surveys to probe the properties of galaxies and galaxy groups in the local (present-day) and distant (past) Universe. At UNC Asheville, Zack is leading analysis for JWST OutThere in collaboration with Professor David Wake. JWST OutThere is a galaxy survey, based on data from the James Webb Space Telescope, that aims to examine the stellar populations, metallicities, and environments of galaxies throughout a long period of cosmic history.

Zack is also a core member of REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE (RESOLVE) and Environmental COntext (ECO), two complementary surveys that provide a complete census of gas, stars, and dark matter in galaxies within a fixed volume of the local Universe. As a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Zack used these surveys to design a new algorithm for identifying galaxy groups, as well as to measure the inventory of cold hydrogen gas and hot, X-ray emitting gas in groups. Zack is currently working on extending these analyses to the Looking At the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array (LADUMA) survey, which is using the MeerKAT telescope array to assess the evolution of cold atomic hydrogen over the past nine billion years.

In addition to his research, Zack also teaches introductory astronomy and mentors undergraduate students at UNC Asheville. Prior to joining the UNC Asheville’s Department of Physics & Astronomy, Zack taught introductory studio physics and introductory astronomy lab courses at UNC Chapel Hill.

Education

• Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2024
• M.S., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2022
• B.S., High Point University, 2018

Publications

Full publications on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OszIpw0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao