Dr. Michael Coughlin is an emerging leader in the rapidly evolving field of multi-messenger astronomy, where he bridges gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations to unlock new cosmic phenomena. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where he leads a research group dedicated to pioneering discoveries in this new observational frontier. Born and raised in the Twin Cities region, Coughlin earned his BA in Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics summa cum laude from Carleton College in 2012, followed by an MPhil in Astronomy as a Churchill Scholar at Cambridge University. After completing his PhD in Physics at Harvard University in 2016 with a thesis on gravitational wave astronomy in the LSST era, he advanced his research as a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech before establishing his independent academic career at Minnesota.
Dr. Coughlin's innovative research has significantly contributed to the development of methods for detecting and analyzing gravitational wave signals in conjunction with electromagnetic observations across the spectrum. His doctoral work at Harvard focused on gravitational wave astronomy in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope era, where he built and characterized prototype calibration systems and all-sky camera systems for site monitoring. During his postdoctoral work at Caltech, he bridged the gap between gravitational-wave and electromagnetic astronomers through the Zwicky Transient Facility, enabling more efficient follow-up of gravitational wave events. His contributions to gravitational-wave detection algorithms have been applied to recent LIGO data, while his work with seismometers on Earth and the Moon has helped set upper limits on low-frequency gravitational-wave backgrounds.
As a rising star in the field, Coughlin serves as Project Scientist for the Kitt Peak EMCCD Demonstrator, contributing to the advancement of rapid-response astronomical instrumentation for time-domain astrophysics. His leadership in connecting gravitational wave and electromagnetic astronomy communities has positioned him as a key figure in the emerging field of multi-messenger astrophysics. At the University of Minnesota, he teaches undergraduate astronomy courses while mentoring students in cutting-edge research at the intersection of gravitational wave and traditional observational astronomy. His ongoing work continues to develop novel approaches for multi-messenger observations, with the potential to unlock new insights into cosmic phenomena such as neutron star mergers and black hole collisions, thereby advancing our fundamental understanding of the universe's most energetic events.
