1. science
2. physics
3. space and astronomy

Davide Lena
Updated on November 14, 2014
Rochester Institute of Technology
School of Physics and Astronomy
Building 76 (CAR)  Office: 1240
54 Lomb Memorial Dr  Rochester, NY 14623
E-Mail: dxl1840@g.rit.edu
Education
Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY, USA)
•
2010 - present
Ph.D. candidate in Astrophysical Sciences and Technology.
Advisor: Prof. A. Robinson.
Expected graduation: February 2015.
Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Bologna, italy)
2004 - 2010
•
M.Sc. in Astrophysics and Cosmology (2007 - 2010).
Thesis title: Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes, a Search in The Nearby Universe.
Advisors: Proff. A. Marconi, A. Capetti, B. Marano.
Final grade: 110/110 cum laude.
•
Erasmus student at the Laboratory of Astrophysics of the Observatory of Grenoble (LAOG, Université
Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France, 09/2008 – 03/2009).
•
B.Sc. in Physics (2004 - 2007).
Thesis title: Estimate of Supermassive Black Hole Masses in Bright Galaxies.
Advisor: Prof. G. Giovannini.
Final grade: 109/110.
Professional Experience
Rochester Institute of Technology
•
2010 – present
Graduate Research Assistant, School of Physics and Astronomy.
Analysis, reduction and interpretation of astronomical data (i.e. spectra from integral field
spectroscopy, HST/ACS, WFPC2, WFC3, NICMOS images). Scientific writing. Science communication.
Teaching & Mentoring
Rochester Institute of Technology
2010 - present
Teaching
•
University Physics II. Teaching Assistant.
Instructor: Dr. M. Mbonye (2010 - 2011).
•
University Physics I. Teaching Assistant.
Instructor: Dr. R. Teese (2010).
Page 1 of 5
Davide Lena | Curriculum Vitae
Mentoring
•
L. Shadler (undergraduate, research assistant, January 2014 – Summer 2014).
Topic: Modeling 2D gas kinematics with the software Shape.
•
A. Hunter (undergraduate, intern, Summer 2014).
Topic: Kinematics of ionized gas in nearby active galaxies from integral field spectroscopy.
•
T. Seelig (undergraduate, research assistant, 06/2012 – 06/2013).
Topic 1: Tracing gas flows in the inner region of the galaxy NGC 1386 using integral field spectroscopy.
Topic 2: Data reduction for integral field spectroscopy observations from the GEMINI telescopes.
•
S. Wolters (high school student, intern, Summer 2012).
Topic: Relation between radio and optical emission in the galaxy NGC 1386.
Refereed publications
First author
•
“Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes: a Search in the Nearby Universe”
The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 795, no. 2, p.146 (arXiv: 1409.3976).
Lena, D., Robinson, A., Marconi, A., Axon, D., Capetti, A., Merritt, D., Batcheldor, D.
•
“The Complex Gas Kinematics in the Nucleus of the Seyfert 2 Galaxy NGC 1386: Evidence for an
Equatorial Outflow”
Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal.
Lena, D., Robinson, A., Storchi-Bergmann, T., Schnorr-Müller, A., Seelig, T., Riffell, R .A., Nagar, N., Couto,
G. S., Shadler, L.
Co - author
•
“Feeding and Feedback in the Inner Kiloparsec of the Active Galaxy NGC 2110”
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 437, no. 2, pp. 1708 – 1724.
Schnorr-Müller,A., Storchi-Bergmann, T., Nagar, N., M., Robinson, A., Lena, D., Riffel, R. A., Couto, G. S.
Non-refereed publications
•
“Reduction of Integral Field Spectroscopic Data from the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (a
commented example)”, Lena, D. 2014, arXiv:1409.8264
Talks
Seminars and Colloquia
•
•
CITA Seminar, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics [Canada], September 2, 2013.
Seminar, INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo G. S. Vaiana [Italy], July 1, 2013.
Page 2 of 5
Davide Lena | Curriculum Vitae
•
•
Seminar, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul [Brazil], May 17, 2013.
Seminar, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul [Brazil], November 14, 2011.
Conference Talks (contributed)
•
•
•
•
“Recoiling supermassive black holes and the formation of massive elliptical galaxies”
ASNY (Astronomy Society of New York), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY, USA, November 8, 2014.
“Gas kinematics in the inner 250 pc of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1386”
NERQUAM (New England Regional QUasar and Agn Meeting) #24, Harvard Center for Astrophysics
Cambridge, MA, USA, May 23, 2014.
“Gas kinematics in the inner 250 pc of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1386”
Astronomy Society of New York meeting, Oswego [USA], April 26, 2014.
“Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes, a Search in the Nearby Universe”
David Axon Memorial Meeting, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, April 18, 2013.
Other Talks
•
•
10 talks at RIT (2010 - 2014)
GALREAD (Princeton/IAS Galaxy Journal club), Princeton, June 18, 2012.
Posters
•
Gas flows in the inner kpc of NGC 1386
Lena, D., Robinson, A., Seelig, T., et al. 2014
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #223, 223, #251.07
•
Imagine Astronomy at the Rochester Institute of Technology
Rapson, V., Almeyda, T., Freeman, M., Lena, D., et al. 2014,
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #223, 223, #444.03
•
Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes, a Search in the Nearby Universe
Lena, D., Robinson, A., Marconi, A., Axon, D., Capetti, A., Merritt, D., Batcheldor, D., 2012
Binary Black Holes and Dual AGN: a Workshop in Memory of David S. De Young
National Optical Astronomical Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Grants, scholarships, awards
Approved Proposals as Principal Investigator
•
GEMINI South, time awarded: 9.5 hr, proposal ID: GS-2014A-Q-78.
Mapping sub-kpc gas flows in a sample of nearby, hard X-ray selected AGNs.
•
GEMINI North, time awarded: 7.6 hr, proposal ID: GN-2014A-Q-90.
Mapping sub-kpc gas flows in a sample of nearby, hard X-ray selected AGNs.
•
GEMINI South, time awarded: 8.4 hr, proposal ID: GS-2013A-Q-56.
Mapping sub-kpc gas flows in a sample of nearby, hard X-ray selected AGNs.
Page 3 of 5
Davide Lena | Curriculum Vitae
•
GEMINI North, time awarded: 10.3 hr, proposal ID: GN-2013A-Q-61.
Mapping sub-kpc gas flows in a sample of nearby, hard X-ray selected AGNs.
•
GEMINI South, time awarded: 4.0 hr, proposal ID: GS-2012B-Q-73.
Mapping sub-kpc gas flows in NGC1365.
•
GEMINI North, time awarded: 7.0 hr, proposal ID: GN-2012A-Q-105.
Mapping sub-kpc gas flows in nearby AGNs.
Approved Proposals as Co-Investigator
•
GEMINI South, time awarded: 7.5 hr, proposal ID: GS-2014B-Q-20, PI: N. Nagar.
A Kinematic Survey of the Narrow Line Region in Nearby Active Galaxies.
•
GEMINI North, time awarded: 10 hr, proposal ID: GN-2014B-Q-87, PI: M. Elvis.
A Kinematic Survey of the Narrow Line Region in Nearby Active Galaxies.
•
HST, Cycle 22 (archival research), proposal ID: 13922, PI: A. Robinson.
Do Supermassive Black Holes really reside at the centers of their host galaxies?
Grants
•
•
RIT Graduate Research and Creativity Grant, 2014.
RIT Graduate Research and Creativity Grant, 2013.
Scholarships
•
•
•
ARSTUD scholarship, 2004 – 2010.
ERASMUS scholarship, 2008.
Scholarship from “Cassa Edile di Messina”, 2005.
Awards
•
RIT AST Jamboree, best talk, 2012.
Outreach
•
•
•
•
•
IMAGINE RIT (open house), 2011 – 2014.
Astronomy Talks at the Rivers Run Community, Rochester, NY, US, 2013. Speaker.
Summer Astronomical Observations, Gioiosa Marea, Italy, 2009 – 2013. Promoter, coordinator, speaker.
RIT Astronomical observatory open house, 2011 – 2012. Assistant.
An introduction to amateur astronomical observations (for middle-school students), Gioiosa Marea, Italy,
2008. Promoter, coordinator, speaker.
Page 4 of 5
Davide Lena | Curriculum Vitae
Other
•
Eight year diploma in classical guitar
Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali (Institute for Musical Studies) “Rinaldo Franci”
Siena [Italy], 2005
Referees
•
Dr. Andrew Robinson (axrsps@rit.edu)
Director and professor, School of Physics and Astronomy
Rochester Institute of Technology
•
Dr. Thaisa Storchi-Bergmann (thaisa@ufrgs.br)
Head of the astrophysics research group and professor of physics and astronomy
Departamento de Astronomia, Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Porto Alegre, Brazil
•
Dr. David Merritt (merritt@astro.rit.edu)
Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy
Rochester Institute of Technology
•
Dr. Alessandro Marconi (alessandro.marconi@unifi.it)
Professor, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia
Università di Firenze
•
Dr. Joel Kastner (jhk@cis.rit.edu)
Professor, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science and School of Physics & Astronomy
Director, Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics
Rochester Institute of Technology
•
Dr. Alessandro Capetti (capetti@oato.inaf.it)
Professor and director, Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino
•
Dr. Daniel Batcheldor (dbatcheldor@fit.edu)
Professor, Physics and Space Sciences
Director, Olin Observatory
Florida Institute of Technology
Biographical Informations
•
•
•
Citizenship: italian
Birth: 1985
Languages: italian (mother tongue), english (near-fluent), french (fair).
Page 5 of 5