Charlotte M. Wood

About Me

Download Curriculum Vitae: [PDF] Updated 20 March 2025

Hi! I'm Charlotte and I am an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department at the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University. Prior to being at NC A&T, I was the Astronomy & Astrophysics Prize Postdoctoral Fellow at Iowa State University. I got my Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Notre Dame where I worked on supernova cosmology under Dr. Peter Garnavich. My research focuses on understanding type Ia supernovae progenitors and what effects the intrinsic variations in type Ia supernovae have on the Hubble constant measurement. Other research interests of mine include light echoes, white dwarfs, brown dwarfs, scientific writing/communication, and physics education.

I got my B.S. in Physics (with a minor in astronomy) from Hofstra University in 2016. While I was there, I worked with Dr. Stephen Lawrence studying light echoes around recurrent novae and SN 1987A. I also participated in a REU in 2015 at the University of Oklahoma where I worked with Dr. Mukremin Kilic studying extremely low mass white dwarfs. I then started as a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame in the summer of 2016 and I successfully defended my thesis in the summer of 2022.

Throughout my career, I have enjoyed sharing my passion for astronomy with the community and I have been heavily involved in outreach efforts at all of my institutions. I have also recently been focused on improving my scientific writing and I worked as the Scientific Writing Consultant for the Physics & Astronomy Department at Notre Dame for two years. As a professor, I hope to continue both of these efforts through QuarkNet, learning to use the planetarium at NC A&T, and by developing new writing classes for the Physics Department (and/or the College of Science and Technology).

Outside of physics, I enjoy horseback riding, photography (including astrophotography), playing pool, traveling, and hanging out with friends/family. I grew up in North Carolina, so I am a big UNC basketball fan and I try to go to ND/UNC/ISU/NCAT football and basketball games when I get the chance. I've also been getting into baseball and I enjoy attending Greensboro Grasshoppers and Iowa/South Bend Cubs games.

If you have any questions (or just want to say hi), please contact me!