I’m a final-year Ph.D. Astronomy & Astrophysics candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, under the supervision of Ryan J. Foley. You can find my publication list here.

I lead the Type Ia Supernova (SNIa) cosmology efforts of the Swope Supernova Survey, a low-redshift imaging transient program using the 1-m Swope telescope in Las Campanas Observatory, Chile (you can watch a recent short talk I gave about the survey and my ongoing research here). Our first SN Ia data release was just submitted to MNRAS.

Astronomy outreach is one of my passions. I’ve been actively involved in outreach activities in California, especially towards Spanish-speaking underrepresented groups, and in my home country, Costa Rica. I firmly believe Astronomy can unite Humanity, and help spread kindness and compassion. On April 13, 2024, I gave the closing talk at TEDx Santa Cruz on this very topic; I’ll upload the video link soon.

I’m a National Osterbrock Fellow at the National Osterbrock Leadership Program (Program Director: Sandra Faber), which aims to empower young astronomers to become effective leaders by teaching them principles of leadership and management through different educational activities, mentorships, and leadership experiences.

Our Swope Supernova Survey team, as part of the 1-Meter-2-Hemisphere collaboration, on August 17, 2017, discovered the first optical counterpart of a gravitational wave event! This discovery was part of the 2017 Scientific Breakthrough of the year. You can read about our discovery on our website. This discovery, and my role in it, received much media attention in my home country, Costa Rica.

I’m also part of the SN Ia cosmology groups of the Young Supernova Experiment and the Foundation Supernova Survey. 

In my free time, I enjoy learning about languages and literature, Ancient History, calligraphy, traveling, teaching Spanish, music, dancing, and sports. Additionally, I have a Tolkien-related blog. 我在学中文。

Feel free to send me an email at rojasbravo at ucsc.edu, or visit my linkedin profile.