A full copy of my CV is available here (Last updated March 2026)
A complete list of my publications is available via ADS

CV Summary

Klarman Fellow - Cornell University
Oct 2024 - Present

Research Associate - University of Bristol
Apr 2024 - Jun 2024

PhD in Astrophysics - University of Bristol
2020 - 2024
Supervisor: Dr. Hannah Wakeford
Research Focus: From Hot Jupiters to Super-Earths: An Exploration Exoplanet Atmospheres with Space-Based Telescopes
  • Awarded Outstanding Excellence in a Doctoral Dissertation in the Faculty of Science and RAS Michael Penston Thesis Prize Runner-up

Master's Year Abroad - Center for Astrophysics | Harvard-Smithsonian
2019 - 2020
Supervisor: Dr. James Kirk
Thesis Title: LRG-BEASTS: Ground-Based Transmission Spectroscopy of the Atmosphere of the Highly Inflated Hot-Saturn WASP-21b
  • The final year of my MPhys was spent at the CfA thanks to the University of Southampton's flagship scheme

MPhys Astrophysics with a Year Abroad - University of Southampton
2016 - 2020
Classification: First Class
  • Awarded Best Project by a Year Abroad / Final Year Research Finalist and Most Outstanding Performance on an MPhys Degree by the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton

Grants and Awards:
  • PI on 2 Competitively Awarded JWST GO Programs, 60.5 Total Hours:
    • Meeting their Match: Measuring Cloudy Hot Jupiter Counterparts to Understand the Silicate Cloud Regime
      with JWST/MIRI – GO-7849
    • Not Your Normal Neptune: Exploring the Chemical Processes at Play in HAT-P-11b – GO-4105
  • Co-I on 13 Competitively Awarded JWST GO Programs, 771 Total Hours:
    • GO-10674, GO-11962, GO-12237, GO-8309, GO-8004, GO-5959, GO-5844, GO-5311, GO-3969, GO-3838,
      GO-3154, GO-2667, GO-2512
  • Co-I on 4 Competitively Awarded HST GO Programs, 193 Total Orbits:
    • JWST-GO-12237, GO-17613, GO-17418, GO-17183, GO-16695
  • 2024 Member of NASA ExoExplorers Program 
  • 2024 RAS Michael Penston Thesis Prize Runner-up
  • 2023/2024 Outstanding Excellence in a Doctoral Dissertation, Faculty of Science, Uni. of Bristol
  • 2020 Most Outstanding Performance on an MPhys Degree, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton
  • 2020 Best Project by a Year Abroad / Final Year Research Finalist School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton

Talks, Seminars, and Colloquia Highlights:
  • March 2026 – Coffee Talk, University of Edinburgh, UK
  • March 2026 – Astronomy Seminar, University of Birmingham, UK 
  • March 2026 – Astronomy Seminar, University of Southampton, UK
  • November 2025 – ExoCoffee, MPIA Max Plank Institute for Astronomy, Germany 
  • June 2024 - ExoCoffee, Max Plank Institute for Astronomy, Germany
  • April 2024 - UK Exoplanet Community Meeting, University of Birmingham, UK
  • December 2023 - Astrophysics Seminar, University of Bristol, UK
  • October 2023 - Stars, Planets and ISM Seminar, UT Austin, TX, USA
  • March 2023 - Special Seminar, NASA Goddard, MD, USA 
  • March 2023 - Special Seminar, University of Maryland, MD, USA 
  • November 2022 - Celebrating JWST's first six months of exoplanet data, Ringberg Castle, GermanyCe
  • May 2022 - Astro Seminar, American Museum of Natural History, NY, USA
  • May 2022 - Planetary Lunch, University of California: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
  • April 2022 - CIERA Science Happy Hour, Northwestern University, IL, USA 
  • April 2021 - UK Exoplanet Community Meeting, University of Birmingham, UK
  • May 2020 - Exoplanet Presentation Seminar Series, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard Smithsonian, MA, USA 
  • May 2020 - STARGATE Collaboration Seminar

Publications:
First Author
  1. JWST COMPASS: NIRSpec/G395H Transmission Observations of the Super-Earth TOI-776b
    Alderson, L., et al. 2025, AJ
  2. JWST COMPASS: NIRSpec/G395H Transmission Observations of the Super-Earth TOI-836b
    Alderson, L., et al. 2024, AJ, 167, 5
  3. ​Early Release Science of the Exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec G395H
    Alderson, L., Wakeford, H.R., Alam, M.K., Batalha, N.E., Lothringer, J.D., The JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team et al., 2023, Nature, 614, 664-669
  4. A Comprehensive Analysis of WASP-17b's Transmission Spectrum from Space-Based Observations
    Alderson, L., et al. 2022, MNRAS, 512, 4185
  5. LRG-BEASTS: ground-based detection of sodium and a steep optical slope in the atmosphere of the highly inflated hot-saturn WASP-21 
    Alderson, L., et al. 2020, MNRAS, 497, 5182​

Significant Co-Author Contributions
  1. JWST-TST DREAMS: Sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere of the Neptune-mass planet HAT-P-26 b from NIRSpec G395H transmission spectroscopy
    Gressier, A., Batalha, N. E., Wogan, N., Alderson, L. et al., 2025, AJ, 170, 29
  2. Additional JWST/NIRSpec Transits of the Rocky M Dwarf Exoplanet GJ 1132 b Reveal a Featureless Spectrum
    Bennet, K., et al., 2025, AJ, 170, 205
  3. Tracing the formation and migration history: molecular signatures in the atmosphere of misaligned hot Jupiter WASP-94Ab using JWST NIRSpec/G395H
    Ahrer, E.-M., Gandhi, S., Alderson, L., et al., 2025, MNRAS, 540, 2535
  4. JWST-TST DREAMS: A Precise Water Abundance for Hot Jupiter WASP-17b from the NIRISS SOSS Transmission Spectrum
    Louie, D., Mullens, E., Alderson, L. et al., 2025, AJ, 169, 86
  5. JWST COMPASS: A NIRSpec/G395H Transmission Spectrum of the Sub-Neptune TOI-836c
    Wallack, N., Batalha, N., Alderson, L., et al., 2024, AJ, 168, 77
  6. Double Trouble: Two Transits of the Super-Earth GJ 1132 b Observed with JWST NIRSpec G395H
    May, E. M. & MacDonald, R. J., et al., 2023, ApJL, 959, 1
  7. JWST-TST DREAMS: Quartz Clouds in the Atmosphere of WASP-17b
    Grant, D., et al., 2023, ApJL, 956, 2
  8. Identification of CO2 in an exoplanet atmosphere
    JTEC ERS Team, 2023, Nature, 614, 649–652
HEADER IMAGE CREDIT:  NASA, ESA, G. BACON