{"id":11,"date":"2025-04-17T15:27:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T15:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2026-07-13T19:14:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:14:03","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty Advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-link-color has-larger-font-size wp-elements-1 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Shanshan Rodriguez<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#020000\">Associate Professor of Physics, Grinnell College<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#000000\">Office: Noyce 1034<br>Lab: Noyce 0131<br>Email: rodriguezs@grinnell.edu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#050000\"><strong>Prof. Shanshan Rodriguez<\/strong>&nbsp;is a theoretical physicist specializing in gravitation and black hole physics. She earned her B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2004 and her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 2010. Following her doctoral studies, she spent four years as a research scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center and later taught at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She joined the Physics faculty at Grinnell College in 2018, where she co-leads the&nbsp;<strong>Black Hole Thermodynamics and Phenomenology (BHTP) Group<\/strong> with Prof. Leo Rodriguez. The BHTP group at Grinnell studies black hole thermodynamics and phenomenology, plasma astrophysics, and connections between gravitational theories and condensed matter physics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-5 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#050000\">Besides doing physics, Shanshan also enjoys cooking, singing and playing piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-link-color has-larger-font-size wp-elements-6 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#050000\"><strong>Current Research Students<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"198\" height=\"204\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-17-at-9.19.51\u202fPM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-130 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Owen Gartlan (&#8217;27)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Superradiance of a rotating BH<\/em> (PHY499 &#8211; Summer MAP 2025)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"234\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-at-11.51.58-AM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-172 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Nate Kline (&#8217;27)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Thin Disk Imaging of a rotating BH<\/em> (PHY499 &#8211; Fall MAP 2026)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"234\" height=\"218\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-at-11.48.51-AM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-169 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Leo Eakin (&#8217;28)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: Quasinormal modes of a rotating BH (PHY499 &#8211; Summer MAP 2026)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"234\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-at-11.48.21-AM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-170 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ben Below (&#8217;28)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Ray Tracing of a rotating BH<\/em> (PHY499 &#8211; Summer MAP 2026)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"208\" height=\"224\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-at-11.48.29-AM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-171 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Eti-Abasi-Laurel Edet (&#8217;28)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Ray Tracing of a rotating BH<\/em> (PHY499 &#8211; Summer MAP 2026)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-larger-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Former Research Students<\/strong> (since 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"538\" height=\"795\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-115 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image.jpeg 538w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-203x300.jpeg 203w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 538px) 100vw, 538px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong> Connor McMillin (&#8217;26)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Projects: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Shadow of a rotating BH<\/em> (PHY499 &#8211; Summer MAP 2025)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Circular geodesics of a Kerr-like BH in dark matter halo<\/em> (PHY399 &#8211; S25) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Geometrodynamics of a 2D curved surface due to a quantum-confined particle<\/em> (PHY399 &#8211; Summer MAP 2023)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EthanBuck_1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EthanBuck_1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EthanBuck_1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EthanBuck_1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EthanBuck_1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EthanBuck_1-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EthanBuck_1.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Zhichen Guan (&#8217;26)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Circular geodesics of a Kerr-like BH in dark matter halo<\/em> (PHY399 &#8211; S25)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"766\" height=\"967\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-5.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-129 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-5.jpeg 766w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-5-238x300.jpeg 238w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 766px) 100vw, 766px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lotus Liu (&#8217;27)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Shadow of a rotating BH<\/em> (PHY499 &#8211; Summer MAP 2025)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:16% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"599\" height=\"847\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-6.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-128 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-6.jpeg 599w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-6-212x300.jpeg 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Evan Shen (&#8217;27)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Superradiance of a rotating BH<\/em> (PHY499 &#8211; Summer MAP 2025)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Apr-17-2025-at-10_26_07-AM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Apr-17-2025-at-10_26_07-AM.png 1024w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Apr-17-2025-at-10_26_07-AM-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Apr-17-2025-at-10_26_07-AM-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Apr-17-2025-at-10_26_07-AM-768x768.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>William (Coleman) Horner (&#8217;24, Grinnell Post-Bac)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Project: <\/em><em>Shadow of a rotating BH in Conformal Weyl Gravity<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"207\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-116 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Alex Sidler (&#8217;25)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Energy extraction via magnetic reconnection from a rotating charged BH in perfect fluid dark matter (PHY499 &#8211;  2023-2024)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"209\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-125 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Haozhi Liu (&#8217;25)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Energy extraction via magnetic reconnection from a rotating BH (PHY499 &#8211;  Summer MAP 2023)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"207\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-117 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Henry Bridgers (&#8217;24)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>Particle orbits simulation in rotating BH (PHY399- S24)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:35% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_6715-1024x788.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_6715-1024x788.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_6715-300x231.jpg 300w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_6715-768x591.jpg 768w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_6715-1536x1181.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_6715-1200x923.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_6715.jpg 1798w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>John Riley O&#8217;Toole (&#8217;24) <\/strong><br><strong>Lucas Hadding (&#8217;24)<\/strong> <br><strong>Alex Love (&#8217;23)<br>Noah Enerson (&#8217;23)<\/strong><br><br>Project: <em>BH energy extraction via magnetic reconnection (PHY397 &#8211; Spring 2023)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:35% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0467-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0467-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0467-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0467-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0467-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0467-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0467-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0467-1980x1485.jpg 1980w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Nesibe (Derin) Sivrioglu (&#8217;23) Quentin Dancewicz Helmers (&#8217;22)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Project: <em>BH entropy using Noether current method (PHY499- Summer MAP 2021)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shanshan Rodriguez Associate Professor of Physics, Grinnell College Office: Noyce 1034Lab: Noyce 0131Email: rodriguezs@grinnell.edu Prof. Shanshan Rodriguez&nbsp;is a theoretical physicist specializing in gravitation and black hole physics. She earned her B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2004 and her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 2010. Following her doctoral [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186,"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/srodriguez.sites.grinnell.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}