Rose A. Finn

Rose Finn received a Bachelor's of Arts in Astronomy-Physics from the University of Virigina and a Master's of Science in Physics from Dartmouth College.  She then taught 8th through 12th grade science at the Albany Academy for Girls for three years before continuing her graduate studies at the University of Arizona, where she received her Ph.D. in astronomy in 2003.  As a graduate student, Rose was awarded a Space Grant Fellowship and a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program fellowship.  Upon completing her Ph.D., she was awarded a National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Post-doctoral Fellowship, which she took to the University of Massachusetts.  Rose joined the faculty of Siena College in 2005 as the first tenure-track woman in the Physics Department.  In 2009, Rose was awarded a CAREER award by the National Science Foundation.  Dr. Finn has also received other research grants from NASA and the NSF.

My Siena Experience

My Teaching Philosophy

 I strongly believe in an active, student-focused approach to teaching. This was not my philosophy when I started teaching 16 years ago; I have continually experimented with various teaching techniques, and I have observed that student-centered teaching is more effective and more enjoyable than traditional techniques. As a result, I have tried to implement this as much as possible at Siena. 

What I Love About Siena

There are two main reasons why I love teaching at Siena: great students and small class sizes.  My first year, I thought I was lucky because I taught a group of students who worked hard, participated in class, and were just fun to spend time with.  I now realize that this wasn't luck - this is just what most of our Siena students are like.  Of course I might not know this if our classes contained 100 students!  I could never imagine myself teaching a class with one or two hundred students.  The small class sizes at Siena allow me to make classes interactive, and I am able to get to know my students academically and personally.   

My Favorite Courses to Teach

 My favorite classes to teach are General Physics and Introductory Astronomy.  General Physics is just fun - we do lots of hands-on activities and we cover a broad range of topics.  I enjoy Introductory Astronomy because astronomy is the reason I am a scientist!  I also enjoy the opportunity to teach and interact with liberal arts and business majors.  

My Professional Experience

Current Research

Rose's research focuses on understanding how a galaxy is influenced by the environment in which it lives.

Articles & Book Reviews

• Cold gas in the inner regions of intermediate redshift clusters
  Astronomy & Astrophysics
  2013
• Nebular Attenuation in Hα-selected Star-forming Galaxies at z = 0.8 from the NewHα Survey
  Astronomical Journal
  2013
• Average Metallicity and Star Formation Rate of Lyα Emitters Probed by a Triple Narrowband Survey
  Astrophysical Journal
  2011
• The Hα Luminosity Function and Star Formation Rate Volume Density at z = 0.8 from the NEWFIRM Hα Survey
  Astrophysical Journal
  2011
• Comparing the Relation Between Star Formation and Galaxy Mass in Different Environments
  Astrophysical Journal
  2010
• Evolution of Cluster Scaling Relations with Near-infrared and Spitzer Imaging
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2010
• Evolution of Galaxy Cluster Luminosity Functions at Moderate Redshift in the IRAC Bands
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2010
• Evolution of Star Formation From Spitzer MIPS Imaging of Moderate Redshift Galaxy Clusters
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2010
• HI Content of the MKW 10 Group Galaxies
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2010
• Incidence and Properties of Merging Systems in Ten EDisCS Galaxy Clusters
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2010
• Newfirm H Galaxy survey: Deep Follow-up Spectroscopy of z=0.8 Star Forming Galaxies
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2010
• The evolution of the density of galaxy clusters and groups: denser environments at higher redshifts
  MNRAS
  2010
• A Comparison of UV and Ha Star Formation Rates In Intermediate Redshift Galaxies
  American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
  2009
• Dust-Obscured Star-Formation in Intermediate Redshift Galaxy Clusters
  Astrophysical Journal
  2009
• Extending Deep H-alpha Galaxy Surveys to Higher Redshift with NEWFIRM
  American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
  2009
• Ha Luminosity Functions and Star Formation Rate Volume Densities at z=0.8
  American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
  2009
• The ESO Distant Cluster Sample: Galaxy Evolution and Environment out to z = 1
  The Messenger
  2009
• Effect of Night Laboratories on Learning Objectives for a Nonmajor Astronomy Class
  Astronomy Education Review
  2008
• Mass and Redshift Dependence of Star Formation in Relaxed Galaxy Clusters
  Astrophysical Journal
  2008
• The Relation between Star Formation, Morphology, and Local Density in High-Redshift Clusters and Groups
  Astrophysical Journal
  2008
• An Extremely Massive Dry Merger in a Moderate Redshift Cluster
  Astrophysical Journal
  2007
• Comparison Of UV And H-alpha SFR Indicators At Intermediate Redshift: Extraction Of H-alpha Fluxes From Near-IR Narrowband Imaging
  American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
  2007
• Ha-Derived Star-Formation Rates for three z = 0.75 EDisCS Galaxy Clusters
  Astrophysical Journal
  2005
• Ha-Derived Star-Formation Rates for the z = 0.845 Galaxy Cluster CLJ0023+0423B
  Astrophysical Journal
  2004
• Ha-derived Star Formation Rates of 0.6 < z < 0.8 Galaxy Clusters
  Clusters of Galaxies: Probes of Cosmological Structure and Galaxy Evolution
  2004
• Integrated Star-Formation Rates of the C4 Galaxy Cluster Sample
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2004
• The Surprisingly Sparse Environments of Optically Selected Quasars
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2004
• Ha Star-Formation Rates for the z = 0.84 Galaxy Cluster CLJ0023+0423B
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2003
• Probing the Triggering & Fueling Mechanisms for Quasars
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2003
• Ha -Derived Star-Formation Rates of 0.6 < z < 0.8 Galaxy Clusters
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  2002
• 'WFPC2 Imaging of Quasar Environments A Comparison of Large Bright Quasar Survey and Hubble Space Telescope Archive Quasars
  Astrophysical Journal
  2001
• Galaxies in the Fields of z 1.5 Radio-Loud Quasars
  Astronomical Journal
  2001
• PISCES A Wide Field, 1 - 2µm Camera for Large Aperture Telescopes
  Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
  2001
• WFPC2 Imaging of Quasar Environments: a comparison of LBQS and HST archive quasars
  QSO Hosts and Their Environments
  2001
• A Wide-Field Camera for 1-2.5mu M Imaging at the 2.3 and 6.5m Telescopes
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  1998
• Wide-Field, R and H Band Imaging of Quasar Environments
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  1998
• Optical Spectra of SN 1993J During the First 500 Days
  Astronomical Journal
  1995
• Optical Spectra of SN 1993J During the First Week
  Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
  1993