CV

Education

PhD, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
2013

MS, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
2010

BS, Astronomy and BS, Physics

University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Minor in Mathematics; Magna Cum Laude, College Honors
2007

Academic Positions

Michigan State University

  • Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering — June 2019 - Present
  • Teaching Specialist, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering — September 2017 - Present
  • NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physics and Astronomy — 2014 - 2017

National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory

  • JINA Postdoctoral Research Associate — 2013 - 2014

University of Colorado

  • NSF Graduate Research Fellow and Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences — 2008 - 2013


Teaching Experience

  • CMSE 201: "Computational Modeling and Data Analysis I" (introductory)
    Course Lead Instructor and Section Instructor
    Michigan State University — 2017 - 2023
  • CMSE 202: "Computational Modeling and Data Analysis II" (introductory)
    Course Lead Instructor and Section Instructor
    Michigan State University — 2017 - 2023
  • CMSE 402: "Data Visualization Principles and Techniques" (upper-level)
    Instructor
    Michigan State University — 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025
  • CMSE 492: "Modern Tools for the Data Science Professional" (upper-level)
    Instructor
    Michigan State University — 2026
  • CMSE 801: "Intro. to Computational Modeling and Data Analysis" (graduate)
    Instructor
    Michigan State University — 2019, 2024
  • UGS 101: "Exploring the Universe through hands-on applications of astronomical tools" (introductory)
    Instructor
    Michigan State University — 2015, 2016

Awards

  • College of Engineering Withrow Teaching Excellence Award (Institutional) — 2025 and 2026
  • College of Natural Science Educator Development and Growth Experience (EDGE) Fellowship (Institutional) — 2025
  • College of Natural Science Faculty Teaching Prize (Institutional) — 2025
  • Norman L. and Olga K. Fritz Excellence in Teaching Award (Institutional) — 2023
  • MSU STEM Teaching and Learning Fellowship (Institutional) — 2018 - 2020
  • NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship (National) — 2014 - 2017
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (National) — 2009 - 2012

Professional Development

MSU STEM Teaching and Learning Fellowship

The overarching goal of the program is to improve undergraduate STEM courses by engaging faculty in conversations about core ideas of the discipline and how students should be able to use those ideas combined with science practices and crosscutting concepts to explain phenomena and solve problems.
2018 - 2020

Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators Professional Development Program (ISEE PDP)

Two intensive teaching workshops, design of an inquiry-based activity, and activity implementation and facilitation. In the fourth year, served as an apprentice instructor and helped run the workshops. In years five and six, returned as a staff instructor to help run workshops and train graduate students and postdocs in inquiry-based teaching and learning.
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019

Educational Coursework

An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching — A 7-week online course offered via Coursera by the Center for the Integration of Research (CIRTL), Teaching and Learning. Received a Statement of Accomplishment with Distinction.
2014

Faculty/Professional Development Seminars and Workshops

  • Navigating Conflict and Power Dynamics, Shannon Lynn Burton, Kathie Elliott, Ralph Johnson, and Francisco Villarruel (MSU Creating and Sustaining a Respectful Work Environment Series Workshop) — 2025
  • Setting the Tone: An Introduction to Changing Climate & Culture, LaShondra Hemphill, Carrie Moylan, and Stephanie Anthony (MSU Creating and Sustaining a Respectful Work Environment Series Workshop) — 2025
  • AI Ethics Workshop, Caitlin Kirby and Hala Sun (NSF-funded MSU Workshop organized by Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation, Evidence-Driven Learning Innovation Research Center, and Ethics Institute) - 2025
  • Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation Training, Anna Yeakley and Teresa Brett (9-week program) — 2020
  • Understanding Implicit Bias, Jessica Garcia (3-part program; Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives) — 2018
  • Learning Narratives from Students of Color in STEM Classrooms, Danielle Lopez and Kendra Pyle Kanaboshi (MSU STEM Teaching Essentials Workshop) — 2017
  • Using Calibrated Peer-Reviewed Writing in the STEM Classroom, Chad Wayne (CIRTLcast seminar) — 2016
  • Creating a More Inclusive Classroom Environment, Amanda Bayer (MSU FOD Workshop) — 2016
  • Race Matters, David Asai (MSU STEM Teaching Essentials Workshop) — 2015
  • Introduction to Cooperative Learning, Karl Smith (MSU Lilly Seminar) — 2014
  • Designing your Course for More Significant Learning, Dee Fink (MSU Lilly Seminar) — 2013
  • Real Work is Better than Homework, Brian Coppola (MSU Lilly Seminar) — 2013

Teaching Certifications

  • Certificate in College Teaching, Graduate Teaching Program at the University of Colorado — 2013
  • Certificate of Completion in Teaching Laboratory Experiences, Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators — 2012

Service

  • Member, Undergraduate Studies Committee, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, Michigan State University — 2017 - Present
  • Elected Member, Undergraduate Scholarships & Awards Committee, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — 2026
  • Member, NatSci Cultural Competency Training Team, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — 2019 - 2025
  • Member, DEI Community Engagement Coordinator Search Committee, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — 2023 - 2024
  • Member, Undergraduate Program Assistant Search Committee, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, Michigan State University — 2023
  • Member, Fixed-term Assistant Professor Search Committee, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, Michigan State University — 2023 - 2024
  • Member, Academic Specialist Review Committee, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — 2023 and 2024
  • Co-Chair, Teaching Reflection Committee, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — 2020 - 2022
  • Member, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — 2020 - 2021
  • Member, Undergraduate Learning Assistant Program working group, Michigan State University (campus-wide effort) — 2020 - 2021
  • Member, Steering Committee for the Institute for Scientist and Engineering Educators (ISEE), University of California Santa Cruz — 2019 - 2022
  • Member, Education Technology Committee, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, Michigan State University — 2017 - 2019
  • Member, Mission, Vision, Core Values working group, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — 2019
  • Member, CMSE Chair Search Committee, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, Michigan State University — 2019
  • Member, Taskforce on Inclusive Initiatives, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — 2018 - 2019
  • Vice Chair, Council on Diversity and Community, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University — member 2016 - 2019; vice chair starting 2017
  • Journal Referee — High Power Laser Science and Engineering (2018 - Present); The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2015 - Present); Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2013 - Present)
  • Conference Organizing Committees — "Forging connections: from nuclei to the cosmic web", Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, LOC (2016 - 2017); "The 2016 NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellows Symposium", NSF, SOC (2015 - 2016)
  • Proposal Reviewer — National Science Foundation, Astronomy Division (2015, 2017, 2020, 2026); Distributed Research utilizing Advanced Computing High Performance Computing Allocations (2019)

Recent Mentoring

Undergraduate

  • Jacob Underwood, Computer Science (REU) — 2023
  • Emily Tobias, Statistical and Actuarial Math (REU) — 2021

Graduate

  • Sarah Castle, Mathematics Education (PhD) — 2021-2023

Outreach

  • Astronomy on Tap -- Lansing (primary organizer) — Monthly public events with talks, trivia-based raffle prizes, and informal Q&A; approximately 100 participants per event — 2015 - Present
  • MSU Broader Impacts Conference Panel, "Achieving Broader Impacts through Science Communication" — 2024
  • MSU Science Festival Expo Days (primary astronomy organizer) — Two-day public event with astronomy demos, trivia-based raffle prizes, and solar observing — 2016 and 2017
  • Outreach talks at Abrams Planetarium — "Uncovering galaxies' hidden secrets" — 2019; "Unlocking the mysteries of the Cosmos through computation and scientific visualization" — 2014 and 2015
  • CU-STARS Astronomy Ambassadors Program — Members visit local middle and high schools to give scientific presentations and run lab activities; solar and night-sky observing sessions for students and the public — 2012 - 2013
  • University of Colorado Science, Technology, and Astronomy Recruits (CU-STARS) — Founded program to recruit first-year students from diverse backgrounds into scientific careers — 2011 - 2013

Grants Awarded

  • Building Capacity for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training in the College of Natural Science — Co-Principal Investigator, Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant (2018-2019 cycle) — $18K; 2019
  • Can thermal instabilities drive galactic precipitation and explain observed circumgalactic structure? — Primary Investigator, HST Cycle 23 Archival or Theory Research Program, Grant #: AR-14315 — $56K; 2015
  • The COS Cold Absorber Puzzle: Understanding the Metallicity and Phase of the Circumgalactic Medium — Co-Investigator, HST Cycle 22 Archival or Theory Research Program, Grant #: AR-13917 — $112K; 2014
  • MAST Interface to Synthetic Telescopes with yt (MISTY): Observing Simulations of the Intergalactic Medium — Co-Investigator, HST Cycle 22 Archival or Theory Research Program, Grant #: AR-13919 — $115K; 2014
  • Unlocking the secrets of absorption line complexes in the intergalactic medium — Co-Investigator, HST Cycle 21 Archival or Theory Research Program, Grant #: AR-13261 — $53K; 2013
  • Dust Destruction and SNR Ejecta — Co-Investigator, NASA Astrophysics Theory Program, Grant #: 12-ATP12-0009 — $50K; 2012

Computing Time Awarded

  • Probing galaxy formation at low and high redshifts. — Co-Investigator, NSF XRAC Program, Grant #: MCA08X028, Renewal, 2.4 million CPU-hours — 2022
  • Searching for the missing baryons: non-equilibrium chemistry and synthetic spectra — Primary Investigator, NSF XRAC Program, Grant #: AST140065, 1.1 million CPU-hours — 2014
  • Probing galaxy formation at low and high redshifts. — Co-Investigator, NSF XRAC Program, Grant #: MCA08X028, Renewal, 6.6 million CPU-hours — 2017
  • Petascale adaptive mesh simulations of Milky Way-type galaxies and their environments — Co-Investigator, NSF PRAC Program, Grant #: 1514580, 80 million CPU-hours — 2015
  • Petascale adaptive mesh simulations of Milky Way-type galaxies and their environments — Co-Investigator, Great Lakes Consortium for Petascale Computation Program, 12.8 million CPU-hours — 2015
  • Probing galaxy formation at low and high redshifts. — Co-Investigator, NSF XRAC Program, Grant #: MCA08X028, Renewal, 6.6 million CPU-hours — 2014
  • Understanding the Nature of the Missing Baryons and the Warm/Hot Intergalactic Medium — Co-Investigator, NSF XRAC Program, Grant #: AST120009, Renewal, 2.2 million CPU-hours — 2013

Publications

  1. Using Computational Essays to Redistribute Epistemic Agency in Undergraduate Science — Odden, T. O. B., Silvia, D. W., and Malthe-Sørenssen, A. 2023. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 60(5), 937-977.
  2. Value of the array of returner roles within the Professional Development Program - Martinez, R.A., Silvia, D.W., Rice, E.L., & Porter, J. 2022. Leaders in effective and inclusive STEM: Twenty years of the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators, pp. 381–388
  3. Analyzing Star Formation Feedback Mechanisms in Cosmological Simulations — Fush, S. T., O'Shea, B. W., Silvia, D. W., Smith, B. D., and Wise, J. W. 2022. Research Notes of the AAS, 6, 38.
  4. SALSA: A Python Package for Constructing Synthetic Quasar Absorption Line Catalogs from Astrophysical Hydrodynamic Simulations — Boyd, B. I., Silvia, D. W., O'Shea, B. W., Tumlinson, J., Peeples, M. S., and Earl, N. 2020. Journal of Open Source Software, 5(52), 2581.
  5. The Impact of Enhanced Halo Resolution on the Simulated Circumgalactic Medium — Hummels, C. B., Smith, B. D., Hopkins, P. F., O'Shea, B. W., Silvia, D. W., Werk, J. K., Lehner, N., Wise, J. H., Collins, D. C., and Butsky, I. S. 2019. ApJ, 882, 156.
  6. A Learner-Centered Approach to Teaching Computational Modeling, Data Analysis, and Programming — Silvia, D. W., O'Shea, B. W., and Danielak, B. 2019. In: Rodrigues J. et al. (eds) Computational Science -- ICCS 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11540.
  7. Validating Semi-Analytic Models of High-Redshift Galaxy Formation using Radiation Hydrodynamical Simulations — Côté, B., Silvia, D. W., O'Shea, B. W., Smith, B. D., and Wise, J. H. 2018. ApJ, 859, 1.
  8. Trident: a universal tool for generating synthetic absorption spectra from astrophysical hydrodynamical datasets — Hummels, C. B., Smith, B. D., and Silvia, D. W. 2017. ApJ, 847, 59.
  9. The Orion Fingers: Near-IR Adaptive Optics Imaging of an Explosive Protostellar Outflow — Bally, J., Ginsburg, A., Silvia, D. W., and Youngblood, A. 2015. A&A, 579, A130.
  10. Numerical Simulations of Supernova Dust Destruction. II. Metal-Enriched Ejecta Knots — Silvia, D. W., Smith, B. D., and Shull, J. M. 2012. ApJ, 748, 12.
  11. Ejecta Knot Flickering, Mass Ablation, and Fragmentation in Cassiopeia A — Fesen, R. A., Zastrow, J. A., Hammell, M. C., Shull, J. M., and Silvia, D. W. 2011. ApJ, 736, 109.
  12. Numerical Simulations of Supernova Dust Destruction. I. Cloud-crushing and Post-processed Grain Sputtering — Silvia, D. W., Smith, B. D., and Shull, J. M. 2010. ApJ, 715, 1575.
  13. Extending the Model of KH 15D: Estimating the Effects of Forward Scattering and the Occulting Ring Edge — Silvia, D. W., and Agol, E. 2008. ApJ, 681, 1377.

Presentations

  • Invited Panelist: "Preparing for the next 10 years of computing education: Challenges and Aspirations" — Workshop on Frontiers in Computational Science and Engineering: Celebrating a Decade of CMSE Excellence, Michigan State University — 2025
  • Invited Talk: "A learner-centered approach to teaching computational modeling, data analysis, and programming" - CASTLE Speaker Series/School of Mathematics and Statistics Seminar, Rochester Institute of Technology - 2025
  • Invited Panelist: "Achieving Broader Impacts through Science Communication" — Broader Impacts Conference, Michigan State University — 2024
  • Invited Talk: "A learner-centered approach to teaching computational modeling, data analysis, and programming" — Project Data Science and Big Data at School (ProDaBi) Colloquium, Paderborn University — 2024
  • Invited Talk: "Teaching Computational Astrophysics" — Virtual Astronomy Software Talks seminar — 2023
  • Conference Talk: "Computing in Support of Disciplinary Learning" (Birds of a Feather Discussion) — SIGCSE Technical Symposium — 2023
  • Invited Talk: "Teaching computational modeling and data analysis to facilitate the integration of computing in physics and beyond" — American Physical Society March Meeting — 2023
  • Invited Talk: "Designing curricula for data science based on fundamental skills and competencies informed by expert interviews" — American Physical Society March Meeting — 2020
  • Conference Talk: "A Learner-Centered Approach to Teaching Computational Modeling, Data Analysis, and Programming" — International Conference on Computational Science — 2019
  • Invited Talk: "A Learner-Centered Approach to Teaching Computational Modeling, Data Analysis, and Programming" — Conference on Advancing the Integration of Interdisciplinary Computational Thinking in the Physical and Life Sciences, American Association of Physics Teachers — 2019
  • Invited Talk: "Painting a more realistic picture of the circumgalactic medium via simulations of isolated galaxies" — Theoretical Astrophysics Center, Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley — 2018
  • Conference Talk: "Painting a more realistic picture of the circumgalactic medium via simulations of isolated galaxies" — "Forging Connections: From Nuclei to the Cosmic Web", Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Michigan State University — 2017
  • Invited Conference Talk: "Moving Toward More Inclusive Science" — "JINA-CEE Frontiers in Nuclear Astrophysics", Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Michigan State University — 2017
  • Conference Poster: "First light with Trident: multi-platform synthetic quasar spectra" — Silvia, D. W., Hummels, C. B., and Smith, B. D. 229th American Astronomical Society Meeting — 2017
  • Invited Talk: "Simulating the intergalactic medium: non-equilibrium chemistry and synthetic spectra" — Flash Talk, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona — 2015; Astronomy Colloquium, University of Florida — 2014; Cosmology Seminar, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics — 2014
  • Conference Poster: "Characterizing the non-equilibrium ionization state of the IGM" — Silvia, D. W., O'Shea, B. W., Smith, B. D., Shull, J. M., Turk, M. J., and Reynolds, D. R. 225th American Astronomical Society Meeting — 2015
  • Invited Talk: "Investigating Chemical Evolution: Supernova Dust Destruction and Non-equilibrium Ionization Chemistry" — Astrophysics Seminar, Los Alamos National Laboratory — 2014; Astrophysics Seminar, University of Notre Dame — 2013
  • Conference Talk: "Non-equilibrium modeling of IGM gas chemistry" — "The Impact of Gas Fueling, Quenching, and Feedback on the Growth of Galaxies", University of Notre Dame — 2014
  • Conference Talk: "Investigating the Effects of Non-Equilibrium Ionization via Numerical Simulations" — Dissertation, 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting — 2013

Last updated: February 2026