I'm Yifan Zhao, an astronomer and an instrumentalist specializing in 21-cm cosmology. I also go by Amy. I received my B.S. in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2020 and my Ph.D. in Exploration Systems Design from Arizona State University in 2025. I'm currently a Dunlap Fellow at the Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto.
Selected Talks & Publications
Zhao, Y., Bell, J. F., III, Sahr, E., Lessac-Chenen, E., Adam, C., Cisneros, E., et al. (2024). Pre-flight and in-flight calibration and performance of the Terminal Tracking Cameras (TTCams) on the NASA Lucy mission. Earth and Space Science, 11, e2024EA003576. doi.org/10.1029/2024EA003576
Zhao, Y., Jacobs, D. C., Bowman, J., Samson, T., Lalonde, M.-O. R., & Larson, D. (2025). Building a global map of low frequency radio interference from orbit with DORA. Radio Science, 60, e2025RS008236. doi.org/10.1029/2025RS008236
Y. Zhao, D. C. Jacobs, J. D. Bowman, T. Samson and M. -O. R. Lalonde, "Pathfinding Low Frequency Radio Astronomy with the DORA Radio Background Experiment," 2025 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA, 2025, pp. 1-10, doi: 10.1109/AERO63441.2025.11068787
“Space-like testing of 21-cm cosmology instruments on balloons and beyond.” National Radio Science Meeting (URSI), University of Colorado Boulder. January 2023.
“Drone beam mapping to measure mutual coupling in low frequency arrays.” SALF X Conference, Shanghai, China. December 2024.
The LoCo Lab Radio Astronomy Bootcamp is a week-long summer bootcamp run by the Low-Frequency Cosmology (LoCo) Lab at Arizona State University for undergraduate students interested in learning more about radio astronomy or in working for the LoCo Lab. I have helped to develop the teaching materials and led sessions at the 2023 version of this bootcamp.
The Completely Hackable Amateur Radio Telescope (CHART) is an outreach program developed in collaboration between Arizona State University and Winona State University that aims to teach high schoolers about DIY radio astronomy. I have mentored undergraduate students on the development and testing of this project.
I have also been a teaching assistant for summer programs such as the Summer Science Program and for undergraduate courses at ASU, including SES 410: Senior Exploration Project.