Justin Kader

Astrophysics of Galaxies | ML Engineering | Unreal Engine Development

Justin Kader is a researcher at Caltech/IPAC studying galaxy evolution through the lens of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the outflows they drive. His work uses integral-field spectroscopy from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) to map the kinematics and ionization of feedback-driven gas in nearby galaxies, resolving how AGN and star formation redistribute energy across a galaxy. Alongside this observational program, he develops the scientific software that makes it tractable at scale: he is the author of HyperCube, an open-source tool for interactive and automated spectral fitting of IFU data cubes, and is building a context-conditioned Bayesian framework that brings machine-learning priors to low-signal-to-noise spectral fitting. His research sits at the intersection of extragalactic astrophysics, spectroscopic methods, and applied machine learning.

As an observational astrophysicist, I study the processes shaping galaxy evolution, particularly the impact of massive stars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) on their host galaxies through energy and momentum injection into the interstellar medium (ISM). My work combines multi-wavelength archival data and new observations, using statistical tools to analyze how these power sources heat, recycle, and redistribute star-forming gas and dust, addressing gaps in galactic chemical evolution models.

Currently a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech/IPAC with Dr. Vivian U, I investigate AGN outflows in luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) using JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument and Keck's KCWI to map ionized gas kinematics, characterizing mass-loss rates, metal redistribution, and dust coupling in and around galaxies. I integrate JWST's high-resolution spectral data with KCWI's wide-field capabilities to study multiphase outflows' role in galaxy and circumgalactic medium evolution.

I earned my PhD in astrophysics from Indiana University, studying the enigmatic globular clusters hidden buried within the dust-enshrouded heart of the Milky Way with Prof. Catherine Pilachowski, after completing a BS in physics at UC Santa Cruz and an MS in physics at San Francisco State University.

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