Curriculum Vitae

Research Experience

  • University of Memphis, Assistant Professor, 2022-present
  • Universität Heidelberg, Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2017-2022
  • McMaster University, Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2017
  • McMaster University, PhD Thesis project, stellar feedback processes in galaxy simulations. 2011-2017
  • University of Calgary, Undergraduate Research Associate, 2009-2010

Education

  • PhD Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University 2017
  • BSc Physics with Computer Science Minor, University of Calgary 2011

Awards

  • Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2017
  • Clifton W. Sherman Graduate Scholarship, Ontario Provincial Government, 2015
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Ontario Provincial Government, 2012 & 2014
  • Eugene G. Bolotkin Scholarship, McMaster University Graduate Prestige Scholarship, 2012 (Declined)
  • Student Peer Assistance Undergraduate Bursaries, University of Calgary, 2010
  • Jason Lang Scholarship, Alberta Education, 2009 & 2010
  • Dean's Merit Admission Award - Faculty of Science, University of Calgary, 2006
  • Admission Scholarship, University of Calgary, 2006

Teaching Experience & Mentoring Experience

Student Supervision

  • Co-supervised PhD student Jindra Gensior (with Diederik Kruijssen, graduated July 2021), 2017-2021
  • Co-supervised PhD student Sarah Jeffreson (with Diederik Kruijssen, graduated October 2020), 2017-2020
  • Co-supervised PhD student Marta Reina-Campos (with Diederik Kruijssen, graduated October 2020), 2017-2020

Teaching

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  1. Empirically motivated early feedback: momentum input by stellar feedback in galaxy simulations inferred through observations

    Keller, Benjamin W.; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Chevance, Mélanie 2022 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  2. Introducing EMP-Pathfinder: modelling the simultaneous formation and evolution of stellar clusters in their host galaxies

    Reina-Campos, Marta; Keller, Benjamin W.; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Gensior, Jindra; Trujillo-Gomez, Sebastian; Jeffreson, Sarah M. R.; Pfeffer, Joel L.; Sills, Alison 2022 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  3. Uncertainties in supernova input rates drive qualitative differences in simulations of galaxy evolution

    Keller, Benjamin W.; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik 2022 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  4. Pre-supernova feedback mechanisms drive the destruction of molecular clouds in nearby star-forming disc galaxies

    Chevance, Mélanie; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Krumholz, Mark R.; Groves, Brent; Keller, Benjamin W.; Hughes, Annie; Glover, Simon C. O.; Henshaw, Jonathan D.; Herrera, Cinthya N.; Kim, Jaeyeon; Leroy, Adam K.; Pety, Jérôme; Razza, Alessandro; Rosolowsky, Erik; Schinnerer, Eva; Schruba, Andreas; Barnes, Ashley T.; Bigiel, Frank; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Dale, Daniel A.; Emsellem, Eric; Faesi, Christopher M.; Grasha, Kathryn; Klessen, Ralf S.; Kreckel, Kathryn; Liu, Daizhong; Longmore, Steven N.; Meidt, Sharon E.; Querejeta, Miguel; Saito, Toshiki; Sun, Jiayi; Usero, Antonio 2022 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  5. The baryon cycle of Seven Dwarfs with superbubble feedback

    Mina, Mattia; Shen, Sijing; Keller, Benjamin Walter; Mayer, Lucio; Madau, Piero; Wadsley, James 2021 Astronomy & Astrophysics

  6. Constraining the formation of NGC 1052-DF2 from its unusual globular cluster population

    Trujillo-Gomez, Sebastian; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Keller, Benjamin W.; Reina-Campos, Marta 2021 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  7. Not the Birth Cluster: the Stellar Clustering that Shapes Planetary Systems is Generated by Galactic-Dynamical Perturbations

    Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Longmore, Steven N.; Chevance, Mélanie; Laporte, Chervin F. P.; Motylinski, Michal; Keller, Benjamin W.; Henshaw, Jonathan D. 2021 [eprint arXiv:2109.06182]https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2021arXiv210906182K/abstract)

  8. Momentum feedback from marginally resolved H II regions in isolated disc galaxies

    Jeffreson, Sarah M. R.; Krumholz, Mark R.; Fujimoto, Yusuke; Armillotta, Lucia; Keller, Benjamin W.; Chevance, Mélanie; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik 2021 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  9. A scaling relation for the molecular cloud lifetime in Milky Way-like galaxies

    Jeffreson, Sarah M. R.; Keller, Benjamin W.; Winter, Andrew J.; Chevance, Mélanie; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Krumholz, Mark R.; Fujimoto, Yusuke 2021 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  10. The kinematics of globular cluster populations in the E-MOSAICS simulations and their implications for the assembly history of the Milky Way

    Trujillo-Gomez, Sebastian; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Reina-Campos, Marta; Pfeffer, Joel L.; Keller, Benjamin W.; Crain, Robert A.; Bastian, Nate; Hughes, Meghan E. 2021 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  11. Properties of Compact Faint Radio Sources as a Function of Angular Size from Stacking

    Johnston, Ryan S.; Stil, Jeroen M.; Keller, Ben W. 2021 The Astrophysical Journal

  12. Where Did the Outskirts Go? Outer Stellar Haloes as a Sensitive Probe of Supernova Feedback

    Keller, B. W. 2021 [eprint arXiv:2103.09833]https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2021arXiv210309833K/abstract)

  13. Star Formation in ChaNGa simulations of Galactic Bars

    Powell, J.; Keller, B.; Cummings, B.; Caudill, L. 2021 [American Astronomical Society meeting #237]https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/link_gateway/2021AAS...23712906P/abstract)

  14. The anatomy of a star-forming galaxy II: FUV heating via dust

    Benincasa, S. M.; Wadsley, J. W.; Couchman, H. M. P.; Pettitt, A. R.; Keller, B. W.; Woods, R. M.; Grond, J. J. 2020 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  15. The role of galactic dynamics in shaping the physical properties of giant molecular clouds in Milky Way-like galaxies

    Jeffreson, Sarah M. R.; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Keller, Benjamin W.; Chevance, Mélanie; Glover, Simon C. O. 2020 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  16. Where did the globular clusters of the Milky Way form? Insights from the E-MOSAICS simulations

    Keller, Benjamin W.; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Pfeffer, Joel; Reina-Campos, Marta; Bastian, Nate; Trujillo-Gomez, Sebastian; Hughes, Meghan E.; Crain, Robert A. 2020 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  17. Heart of darkness: the influence of galactic dynamics on quenching star formation in galaxy spheroids

    Gensior, Jindra; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Keller, Benjamin W. 2020 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  18. Entropy-driven winds: Outflows and fountains lifted gently by buoyancy

    Keller, Benjamin W.; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Wadsley, James W. 2020 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  19. Prevalent externally driven protoplanetary disc dispersal as a function of the galactic environment

    Winter, Andrew J.; Kruijssen, J. M. Diederik; Chevance, Mélanie; Keller, Benjamin W.; Longmore, Steven N. 2020 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  20. The trajectories of galaxies in groups: mass-loss and preprocessing

    Joshi, Gandhali D.; Parker, Laura C.; Wadsley, James; Keller, Benjamin W. 2019 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  21. Chaos and variance in galaxy formation

    Keller, B. W.; Wadsley, J. W.; Wang, L.; Kruijssen, J. M. D. 2019 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  22. Estimating the Milky Way's Mass via Hierarchical Bayes: A Blind Test on MUGS2 Simulated Galaxies

    Eadie, Gwendolyn; Keller, Benjamin; Harris, William E. 2018 The Astrophysical Journal

  23. Gasoline2: a modern smoothed particle hydrodynamics code

    Wadsley, James W.; Keller, Benjamin W.; Quinn, Thomas R. 2017 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  24. Star formation and ISM morphology in tidally induced spiral structures

    Pettitt, Alex R.; Tasker, Elizabeth J.; Wadsley, James W.; Keller, Ben W.; Benincasa, Samantha M. 2017 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  25. ΛCDM is Consistent with SPARC Radial Acceleration Relation

    Keller, B. W.; Wadsley, J. W. 2017 The Astrophysical Journal Letters

  26. Cosmological galaxy evolution with superbubble feedback - II. The limits of supernovae

    Keller, B. W.; Wadsley, J.; Couchman, H. M. P. 2016 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  27. The AGORA High-resolution Galaxy Simulations Comparison Project. II. Isolated Disk Test

    Kim, Ji-hoon; Agertz, Oscar; Teyssier, Romain; Butler, Michael J.; Ceverino, Daniel; Choi, Jun-Hwan; Feldmann, Robert; Keller, Ben W.; Lupi, Alessandro; Quinn, Thomas; Revaz, Yves; Wallace, Spencer; Gnedin, Nickolay Y.; Leitner, Samuel N.; Shen, Sijing; Smith, Britton D.; Thompson, Robert; Turk, Matthew J.; Abel, Tom; Arraki, Kenza S.; Benincasa, Samantha M.; Chakrabarti, Sukanya; DeGraf, Colin; Dekel, Avishai; Goldbaum, Nathan J.; Hopkins, Philip F.; Hummels, Cameron B.; Klypin, Anatoly; Li, Hui; Madau, Piero; Mandelker, Nir; Mayer, Lucio; Nagamine, Kentaro; Nickerson, Sarah; O'Shea, Brian W.; Primack, Joel R.; Roca-Fàbrega, Santi; Semenov, Vadim; Shimizu, Ikkoh; Simpson, Christine M.; Todoroki, Keita; Wadsley, James W.; Wise, John H.; AGORA Collaboration 2016 The Astrophysical Journal

  28. The anatomy of a star-forming galaxy: pressure-driven regulation of star formation in simulated galaxies

    Benincasa, S. M.; Wadsley, J.; Couchman, H. M. P.; Keller, B. W. 2016 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  29. Clumpy Disks as a Testbed for Feedback-regulated Galaxy Formation

    Mayer, Lucio; Tamburello, Valentina; Lupi, Alessandro; Keller, Ben; Wadsley, James; Madau, Piero 2016 The Astrophysical Journal Letters

  30. NIHAO project II: halo shape, phase-space density and velocity distribution of dark matter in galaxy formation simulations

    Butsky, Iryna; Macciò, Andrea V.; Dutton, Aaron A.; Wang, Liang; Obreja, Aura; Stinson, Greg S.; Penzo, Camilla; Kang, Xi; Keller, Ben W.; Wadsley, James 2016 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  31. NIHAO - IV: core creation and destruction in dark matter density profiles across cosmic time

    Tollet, Edouard; Macciò, Andrea V.; Dutton, Aaron A.; Stinson, Greg S.; Wang, Liang; Penzo, Camilla; Gutcke, Thales A.; Buck, Tobias; Kang, Xi; Brook, Chris; Di Cintio, Arianna; Keller, Ben W.; Wadsley, James 2016 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  32. Cosmological galaxy evolution with superbubble feedback - I. Realistic galaxies with moderate feedback

    Keller, B. W.; Wadsley, J.; Couchman, H. M. P. 2015 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  33. NIHAO III: the constant disc gas mass conspiracy

    Stinson, G. S.; Dutton, A. A.; Wang, L.; Macciò, A. V.; Herpich, J.; Bradford, J. D.; Quinn, T. R.; Wadsley, J.; Keller, B. 2015 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  34. NIHAO project - I. Reproducing the inefficiency of galaxy formation across cosmic time with a large sample of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations

    Wang, Liang; Dutton, Aaron A.; Stinson, Gregory S.; Macciò, Andrea V.; Penzo, Camilla; Kang, Xi; Keller, Ben W.; Wadsley, James 2015 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  35. Faint dwarfs as a test of DM models: WDM versus CDM

    Governato, F.; Weisz, D.; Pontzen, A.; Loebman, S.; Reed, D.; Brooks, A. M.; Behroozi, P.; Christensen, C.; Madau, P.; Mayer, L.; Shen, S.; Walker, M.; Quinn, T.; Keller, B. W.; Wadsley, J. 2015 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  36. A superbubble feedback model for galaxy simulations

    Keller, B. W.; Wadsley, J.; Benincasa, S. M.; Couchman, H. M. P. 2014 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

  37. Degree of Polarization and Source Counts of Faint Radio Sources from Stacking Polarized Intensity

    Stil, J. M.; Keller, B. W.; George, S. J.; Taylor, A. R. 2014 The Astrophysical Journal

  38. Detection Thresholds and Bias Correction in Polarized Intensity

    George, Samuel J.; Stil, Jeroen M.; Keller, Ben W. 2012 Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia

Invited Talks

Contributed Talks

  • Superbubble Driven Galactic Winds: Realistic Galaxies from moderate Feedback Energy

    B.W. Keller, J. Wadsley (Talk delivered at Galaxy Workshop 2015 in Santa Cruz, USA)

  • Superbubble Driven Outflows in Cosmological Galaxy Evolution

    B.W. Keller, J. Wadsley, H.M.P Couchman (Talk delivered at CASCA 2015 in Hamilton, Canada)

  • Superbubble Feedback in Galaxy Simulations

    B.W. Keller, J. Wadsley, S.M Benincasa, H.M.P Couchman (Talk delivered at CASCA 2014 in Quebec, Canada)

  • Simulating Gas and Gravity in Galaxies with Gasoline

    Ben Keller, James Wadsley, Hugh Couchman (Talk Delivered at SHARCNet Research Day 2013 in Oakville, Canada)

  • Polarized Source Counts and Stacking

    Samuel J. George, Jeroen M. Stil, & Ben W. Keller (Talk delivered by Dr. George at GALFACTS/POSSUM 2010 Workshop in Calgary, Canada)

Conference Proceedings

Conference Posters

  • Scultiping Disk Galaxies with Superbubble Powered Outflows

    Ben Keller, James Wadsley, Hugh Couchman (Poster presented at A 3D View of Galaxies and their Evolution in Heidelberg, Germany)

  • Modeling Unresolved Pressure Reservoirs due to Stellar Feedback

    Ben Keller, James Wadsley (Poster presented at Mind The Gap 2013 in Cambridge, UK)

  • Star Formation Regulation in a Simulated Galactic Disk

    Ben Keller, James Wadsley, Chris Gatopolous, Hugh Couchman (Poster presented at CASCA 2012 in Calgary, Canada)

  • Probing Polarization in Faint Radio Sources Using Median Stacking

    Ben W. Keller, Jeroen M. Stil,Samuel J. George, A. R. Taylor (Poster presented at CASCA 2011 in London, Canada)

  • Why Are Faint Radio Sources More Highly Polarized

    Jeroen M. Stil, Ben W. Keller, Samuel J. George, & Russ Taylor (Poster presented by Dr. Stil at SKA 2010 Conference in Manchester, UK)

Professional Service

Journal Referee

Selection & Allocation Commitees

  • DiRAC UK National High-Performance Computing Allocation Peer Review 2018, 2020

Conference Organization

  • N-Body Shop Excellence Conference Virtual Organizing Committee Member 2021
  • Great Lakes Cosmology and Galaxies Local Organizing Committee Member 2016

Society Membership

  • CASCA 2011-2015

Committee Membership

  • CASCA Graduate Student Committe Chair 2015-present
  • CASCA Graduate Student Committe McMaster University Representative 2014-2015

Supercomputing Time Awarded

  • PI Romulus Zoom PRACE/Marconi, Piz Daint, and MareNostrum - 250k core-hours, 2019
  • Co-I (PI: James Wadsley) Next Generation Cosmological Volume Compute Canada/Niagara - 73M core-hours, 2017

Public Outreach

Talks & Presentations

  • The Emergent Cosmos talk delivered at Heidelberg Astronomy on Tap, 2018
  • Building a Stack for Fun and Profit talk delivered Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, 2010
  • A Brief History of Radio Astronomy talk delivered at Calgary Pecha Kucha Night 4, 2010
  • Astronomy For Hackers talk delivered at Toorcamp, 2009

Volunteer Work

Additional Experience

Computing Skills & Experience

Programming Languages I Speak

  • C/C++
  • Perl
  • Python
  • Bash
  • Haskell
  • Java
  • Javascript+HTML/CSS

Software Contributions

  • astLib Python Astronomy Modules
  • MUSIC Multi-Scale Initial Conditions
  • Gasoline SPH+N-Body Simulation Code
  • AREPO Moving Mesh Hydrodynamics Code
  • ChaNGa Hydrodynamics + N-Body Simulation Code
  • yt Volumetric Data Analysis Toolkit (Project Member)
  • matplotlib Python 2D Plotting Library
  • pynbody N-Body/SPH analysis for Python