A327 Zaffarano
Ames, IA 50010, USA
+1 (515) 294-2219 

jbsimon.astro 'at' gmail.com 

Jake Simon

 Assistant Professor

 Iowa State University

Welcome to my website! 

What's New? 

I am an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University in Ames, IA.  I recently moved from Boulder, CO where I was Senior Research Associate at the University of Colorado and a visiting scientist at the Southwest Research Institute.  Before that, I was a NASA Sagan Fellow at the Southwest Research Institute. 

My primary research focus is on planet formation.  I am using sophisticated computer simulations run on some of the nation's largest supercomputers to understand the basic physical processes at play in how planets are born. I then test my theoretical models against observational data, and as such, I enjoy working very closely with observers. 

Currently, my main two research areas are the formation of planetesimals (bodies that range in size from 1 km to 100 km or so, e.g., asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt Objects), and the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks (disks of gas and dust around young, forming stars). 

I also have a strong interest in how hot gas around nature's most mysterious objects (black holes) spirals in to these objects and in the process generate a tremendous amount of radiation. 

--  New paper led by collaborator David Nesvorny on binary planestimal formation in our streaming instability calculations:  ADS Link 

--  My new postdoc Sayantan Auddy has joined my group! 

--  Paper led by postdoc Daniel Carrera has been published: ADS Link 

--  I welcome new graduate student Jeonghoon Lim to my group!