AJ Olvera

I am a fourth year Astrophysics student from Texas. I currently research galaxy evolution with Faculty Advisor Mariska Kriek. Specifically, we are studying whether galaxies in the redshift regime 1.4 to 2.7 (data taken from the MOSDEF survey at the Keck I telescope) grow from the inside out or outside in. Compared to other studies, the galaxies we study are at higher redshifts and have a higher spectral resolution than spatial resolution. Although I only study galaxies, my research interests also include cosmology and planetary…I would also like to research these at some point.

I chose to leave Texas and come all the way to Berkeley because I wanted some new and dramatically different from the old fashion high school I came from. Since then, I’ve loved living in the Bay and being a part of the Astronomy department here. The professors, graduate students, and staff (specifically the staff advisor Amber Banayat) are amazing to work with. I couldn’t ask for a better undergraduate experience!

I am currently the UAS President and am responsible for running the club. For more info on the position, see the UAS President Section here.

Outside of astro, I love video editing, presenting shows at the Lawrence Hall of Science, gaming, binging shows, and going to the beach. I also used to be pretty involved in on-campus politics (ASUC stuff) and on-campus video production (CalTV). I once even interviewed Will Smith 😀

If you need to contact me, email: aolvera@berkeley.edu. You can find me in the conference rooms of Campbell that I am not supposed to be in 🤫

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