Christopher (Chris) Willott

Roles and responsibilities

  • Astronomical research
  • Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope archive scientist
  • Professional astronomer support

Current research and/or projects

  • Investigating the formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes in the early Universe.
  • Developing observational strategies for the James Webb Space Telescope; a partnership of NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency

Research and/or project statements

  • As Canadian JWST Project Scientist, enable Canadian scientists to maximize the Government of Canada's investment in this mission.
  • As Principal Investigator of The CAaAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS), use JWST to study galaxies in the early universe.
  • As James Webb Space Telescope archive scientist, enable online access to telescope data and data processing environments.
  • As a researcher, study the growth of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies over cosmic time.

Education

  • Ph.D. (Astrophysics), University of Oxford, UK, 1998
  • B.Sc. (Physics with Astrophysics), University of Birmingham, UK, 1994

Professional activities/interests

  • Member of the James Webb Space Telescope Science Working Group
  • Chair of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Scientific Advisory Council
  • Member of the Joint Committee on Space Astronomy

Affiliations

  • Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA)

Awards

  • Canadian Space Agency Fellow (2007 – 2008)
  • Plaskett Fellowship, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, NRC (2002-2006)

Key publications

  • Willott, Chris J., Bergeron, Jacqueline, and Omont, Alain, A Wide Dispersion in Star Formation Rate and Dynamical Mass of 10^8 Solar Mass Black Hole Host Galaxies at Redshift 6, The Astrophysical Journal, 850, 108 (2017)
    https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa921b
     
  • Willott, Chris. J., Albert, L., Arzoumanian, D., et al., Eddington-limited Accretion and the Black Hole Mass Function at Redshift 6, The Astronomical Journal, 140, 546 (2010)
    https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/140/2/546
     
  • Willott, Chris. J., Delorme, P., Reyle, C., et al., The Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey: Nine New Quasars and the Luminosity Function at Redshift 6, The Astronomical Journal, 139, 906 (2010)
    https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/139/3/906
     
  • Willott, Chris J., McLure, Ross J., and Jarvis, Matt J., A 3x10^9 Solar Mass Black Hole in the Quasar SDSS J1148+5251 at z=6.41, The Astrophysical Journal, 587, L15 (2003)
    https://doi.org/10.1086/375126
     
  • Willott, Chris J., Rawlings, Steve, Blundell, Katherine M., and Lacy, Mark, The emission line-radio correlation for radio sources using the 7C Redshift Survey, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 309, 1017 (1999)
    https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02907.x

Christopher (Chris) Willott

Principal Research Officer
Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics
5071 West Saanich Road
Victoria, British Columbia V9E 2E7
Preferred language: English
Telephone: 250-363-8368

Expertise

Space sciences, Observational astronomy, Astronomy