Curriculum Vitae
A summary of my appointments, education, research, publications, talks, and service. The full, up-to-date document is also available as a PDF.
Current Position
NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR · September 2024 – Present
Advisors: Dr. Jeffrey Hazboun & Dr. Xavier Siemens
Research on pulsar timing array (PTA) datasets, spanning pulsar timing, noise modeling, and gravitational wave detection. Developing analytical methodology for PTA sensitivity to anisotropic gravitational wave backgrounds and customized chromatic noise modeling for NANOGrav datasets. Contributing to International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA) data combination and mentoring graduate students in PTA and LISA topics.
Education
Ph.D., Space & Planetary Sciences (concentration: Gravitational Wave Astrophysics)
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR · May 2024
Dissertation: The Gravitational Wave Peep — Improved Modeling of Highly Eccentric EMRIs
for LISA Signal Confusion Noise
B.S., Physics (minor: Philosophy)
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK · May 2017
Thesis: Slow Noise in a Laser with Injected Signal
Research Focus
- PTA Anisotropic Sensitivity. Analytical derivation and implementation of pulsar timing array sensitivity to anisotropic gravitational wave backgrounds, integrated into existing PTA analysis tools.
- PTA Customized Chromatic Noise. New pulsar timing methodologies to model chromatic effects and improve noise characterization in NANOGrav datasets.
- LISA Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals. Modeling the gravitational wave background from highly eccentric EMRIs (“peeps”) and its impact on LISA signal confusion noise.
For figures and longer summaries see the Research page.
Selected Publications
Selected first-author and lead-contribution papers; see the Publications page for the complete list.
What Fraction of Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals That Merge After the LISA Mission Ends Are Detectable?
D. J. Oliver, A. D. Johnson, J. E. Thompson, C. J. Cutler ·
Submitted to Physical Review D (2026) ·
arXiv:2609.36298
Directional Anisotropic Sensitivity Curves for Pulsar Timing Arrays.
D. J. Oliver, J. S. Hazboun, M. Maggi, J. G. Baier, K. E. Gourlie ·
Classical and Quantum Gravity (2026) ·
arXiv:2608.00250
The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Customized Chromatic Noise Models.
B. Larsen, J. G. Baier, D. J. Oliver, K. Wayt, Y.-T. Chang, J. S. Hazboun, C. M. F. Mingarelli, et al. ·
The Astrophysical Journal (2026) ·
arXiv:2606.28571
The NANOGrav 12.5-year Data Set: Chromatic Noise Characterization & Mitigation with Time-Domain Kernels.
J. S. Hazboun, J. Simon, B. Larsen, J. Baier, D. J. Oliver, et al. ·
The Astrophysical Journal (2026) ·
arXiv:2511.22597
Gravitational Wave Peep Contributions to Background Signal Confusion Noise for LISA.
D. J. Oliver, A. D. Johnson, L. Janssen, J. Berrier, K. Glampedakis, D. Kennefick ·
Physical Review D (2026) ·
arXiv:2507.19704
Gravitational Wave Peeps from EMRIs and their Implication for LISA Signal Confusion Noise.
D. J. Oliver, A. D. Johnson, J. Berrier, K. Glampedakis, D. Kennefick ·
Classical and Quantum Gravity (2024) ·
arXiv:2305.05793
Invited Talks
Northwest Section American Physical Society Meeting, Klamath Falls, OR · June 2026
Plenary Talk: “From Pulsar Timing to Gravitational Wave Detection with NANOGrav”
LISA Monday Science Call, LISA Consortium · June 2026
“Gravitational Wave Peep Contributions to Background Signal Confusion Noise for LISA”
JPL SVCP Astrophysics Luncheon Seminar, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · September 2025
“Gravitational Wave Peep Contributions to Background Signal Confusion Noise for LISA”
LIGO Seminar, California Institute of Technology · June 2023
“Gravitational Wave Peeps and Their Implication for LISA Data Analysis”
Mentoring
Katelyn Glasby, Ph.D. student, Oregon State University (2024–present) · Orphan Memory Rates for MBHBHs in LISA.
Martine Maggi, Ph.D. student, Oregon State University (2024–present) · Directional Anisotropic Sensitivity Curves for Pulsar Timing Arrays (third author on Oliver et al., published in CQG).
Kyle Gourlie, B.S. student, Oregon State University (2024–2025), now a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee · First-author project on a Fisher Information Matrix approach to sensitivity-curve calculations (in preparation); contributor to Oliver et al., published in CQG.
Harry O’Mara, Ph.D. student, University of Arkansas (2024–present) · Decomposition of Overlapping Ultra Compact Binaries in LISA Data.