Nicholas Troup is a PhD candidate in Astronomy at the University of Virginia. His dissertation focuses on companions to stars observed by the APOGEE survey. He has extensive research experience with APOGEE developing pipeline tools and leading a working group. His interests include stellar populations, exoplanets, and data science. He has received multiple awards for his research and teaching.

1. T r o u p | 1
Nicholas W. Troup
530 McCormick Road (717)-476-4951
Charlottesville, VA 22904 nwt2de@virginia.edu
Education
Ph.D., Astronomy Expected 08/2017
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Dissertation Title: Companions to APOGEE Stars: A Stellar Populations View of the Milky
Way’s Stellar and Substellar Companion Hosts
M.S., Astronomy 05/2014
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Honors B.S. with Distinction Magna Cum Laude, Physics 05/2012
University of Delaware, Newark, DE
Minors: Computer Science & Mathematics
Thesis Title: The Habitability and Stability of Planets in Binary Star Systems
Academic Awards: Dean’s List (Fall 2008-Spring 2012), Senior Thesis Winter Session Award
(January 2012)
Research
Research Interests
 Stellar Populations
 Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs
 Surveys (pipeline development, data science)
Research Experiences
Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) 09/2012 -Present
APOGEE Software Graduate Assistant- Implemented new features in the APOGEE
pipelines, including: automating the process of acquiring stellar chemical abundances and
rotational velocities, and improving performance of radial velocity extraction.
Substellar Companions Working Group Leader – Coordinate scientific efforts of working
group, and built a catalog of stellar and substellar companions discovered by APOGEE.
NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center (GSFC) 6/2011 – 8/2011

2. T r o u p | 2
WISE Summer Intern- Funded by the Delaware Space Grant Consortium, I worked with
the GSFC WISE team to develop a novel method to heal and recover saturated images in
the WISE catalog. Adviser: Dr. Dominic Benford
University of Delaware Undergraduate Research Program 6/2010 – 5/2011
Science and Engineering Summer Scholar- Using data from the AKARI and WISE
databases, studied infrared excesses from nearby stars in order to identify them as
debris disk candidates. Adviser: Prof. John Gizis
Observing Time Awarded
LBT (LMIRcam) 2016A
MMT (Hectochelle) 2015B, 2016A
NOAO WIYN (DESI) 2015B
Apache Point Observatory 3.5m (ARCES) Several Nights 2013-Present
Other Awards
SDSS-III Young Astronomer Travel Award 07/2013,07/2014
Publications
“Companions to APOGEE Stars I: A Milky Way-Spanning Catalog of Stellar and Substellar
Companion Candidates and their Diverse Hosts,” Troup, N., et al. 2015, AJ, in press
“ASPCAP: The Apogee Stellar Parameter and Chemical Abundances Pipeline,” Garcia Perez,
A.E., et al. 2015, AJ, sub., arXiv:1510.07635
“The Apache Point Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE),” Majewski, S.R., et al. 2015, AJ,
sub., arXiv:1509.05420
“Abundances, Stellar Parameters, and Spectra from the SDSS-III/APOGEE Survey,” Holtzman,
J.A., et al. 2015, AJ, 150, 148
“The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from
SDSS-III,” Alam, S., et al. 2015, ApJS, 219,12
“Rapid Rotation of Low-mass Red Giants Using APOKASC: A Measure of Interaction Rates on
the Post-main-sequence,” Tayar, J, et al. 2015, ApJ, 807,82
“Exploring Anticorrelations and Light Element Variations in Northern Globular Clusters Ob-
served by the APOGEE Survey,” Meszaros, et. al, 2015, AJ,149,153
“The Tenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the
SDSS-III Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment”, Ahn, et. al, 2014, ApJS,
211,17
“A Very High Proper Motion Star and the First L Dwarf in the Kepler Field”, J.E. Gizis, N.W. Troup
& A.J. Burgasser, 2011. ApJ, 736, L34.
Presentations
“Combing the Brown Dwarf Desert with the APOGEE Catalog of Stellar and Substellar Com-
panion Candidates,” Troup, N.W., et al. 2016, AAS Meeting Abstracts, 227, #142.13
“Broadening our Horizons on Stellar and Substellar Companions with APOGEE”, June 2015,
Emerging Researchers in Exoplanet Science Symposium, State College, PA

3. T r o u p | 3
“A Study of Statistical Binaries with SDSS/APOGEE”, Nguyen, D.C., Carlberg, J.K., Troup,
N.W., et al. 2015, AAS Meeting Abstracts, 225, #340.06
“Two for the Price of One: SB2s in the SDSS-III/APOGEE Survey," Chojnowski, et al. 2015,
AAS Meeting Abstracts, 225, #340.05
“The APOGEE-1 Catalog of Keplerian Orbit Fits to RV Variable Sources,” Troup, N.W, et al.
2015, AAS Meeting Abstracts, 225, #340.04
“A Pipeline for the Analysis of APOGEE Spectra Based on Equivalent Widths,” Arfon Wil-
liams, et al. 2015, AAS Meeting Abstracts, 225, #340.02
“Chemical Abundance Comparisons Between ASPCAP and Manual Analyses in Open Cluster
Red Giants,” Smith, V.V, et al. 2015, AAS Meeting Abstracts, 225, #302.06
“New Light on Binary with APOGEE: Trends with Stellar Parameters,” July 2014 SDSS-III
collaboration meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
“Automated Chemical Abundances Determination with ASPCAP,” June 2013 SDSS-III
collaboration meeting, Baltimore, MD.
“New Stars with Mid-Infrared Excesses”, J.E. Gizis & N.W. Troup. American Astronomical
Society, AAS Meeting #218, #326.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol.
43, 2011.
Teaching
Teaching Interests
 Observational Astronomy (Professional & Amateur)
 Stellar Astrophysics
 Quantitative Problem-based Learning
 Continuing Education
Teaching Experience
Summer Course Instructor, University of Virginia 07-08/2013
Taught section of Introduction to Stars, Galaxies and the Universe, implementing a
combination of traditional lectures and problem-based learning to achieve learning goals.
Graduate Teaching Assistant 08/2012-05/2014
Assisted with the undergraduate education of the Astronomy Department. Duties
included: grading exams and homework, substitute lectures, and leading night lab
activities including the Astronomy Majors’ lab course.
CAST Tutor, University of Virginia Athletics Dept. of Academic Affairs 07/2014-Present
Tutor UVa Student Athletes in introductory Astronomy courses.
Tutor I, Tutor.com 01/2011 – 07/2012
Independently contracted online tutor for Tutor.com. Accepted sessions from college and
high school students seeking assistance with physics and calculus.
Teaching Awards
Laurence W. Fredrick Graduate Teaching Award February 2014

4. T r o u p | 4
Awarded by the faculty of the Astronomy Department at the University of Virginia to one
graduate student per year
Mentoring
Duy Nguyen, UVa Undergraduate, 1 year
Guided through reduction process and analysis of high-resolution spectroscopic data.
Service & Outreach
Public Outreach
Dark Skies Bright Kids 08/2012 – Present
Presented Results of these efforts at AAS meetings:
- “Dark Skies, Bright Kids Year 7,” Bittle, L., et al. 2016, AAS Meeting Abstracts, 227,
#248.07
- “Dark Skies, Bright Kids Year 6,” Liss, S., Troup, N.W., et al. 2015, AAS Meeting Ab-
stracts, 225, #243.07
Public Night Volunteer 09/2012 – Present
Administrative Roles
Public Night Coordinator 08/2014 - Present
Local Observatory Committee
Professional
Affiliations
American Astronomical Society Fall 2014-
Alpha Lambda Delta Fall 2010-
Golden Key International Honor Society Fall 2012-
Phi Beta Kappa Fall 2012-
Society of Physics Students Fall 2008 - Spring 2012
University of Delaware Honors Program Fall 2008 - Spring 2012
Professional Development
AAS Ambassador 01/2016 - Present
Tomorrow’s Professor Today 08/2014 - Present
Selective career development program for graduate students at UVa, which contains
major teaching components.
Summer School in Statistics for Astronomers XI June 2015
Proficiencies

5. T r o u p | 5
Programming Languages: C++, Java, MATLAB, IDL, IRAF, Python
Mathematical Software: LaTeX, Maple, Mathematica, Origin, Minitab, R
Operating Systems: Windows, Mac OS X, and UNIX/LINUX
Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher
Other: FITS image processing, Basic Electronics, Computer Hardware, and Carpentry