Curriculum Vitae

Click here to view full CV.

Employment

  • Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory
    • Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024-Present

    • Education

    • University of California, Los Angeles
      • Ph.D., Planetary Science, June 2024
      • M.S., Geophysics and Space Physics, March 2021
    • University of Chicago
      • B.A., Physics with Specialization in Astrophysics, June 2018

    Selected publications

    See full list on arXiv, ADS, and ORCID.

    • W. Misener, P. Gao, N. Wallack, M. Thompson, and A. Shahar 2026. "Magnesium silicate condensation in sub-Neptune envelopes: the fundamental link between chemistry, structure, and observables", The Astrophysical Journal, in review.   arXiv: 2608.24873  
    • W. Misener, M. Schulik, H. Schlichting, and J. Owen, 2026. "Characterizing the Bolometric-photoevaporative Transition in Young Sub-Neptunes with Radiation-hydrodynamic Simulations", The Astrophysical Journal 1008:184.   DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ae969c   arXiv: 2605.02766   ADS: 2026ApJ..1008..184M
    • C. Cherubim, S. Vissapragada, et al. (inc. W. Misener), 2026. "Helium escaping from the atmosphere of a nearby rocky exoplanet orbiting in a habitable zone", Science 393:6185:998.   DOI: 10.1126/science.aea9708   arXiv: 2607.14326   ADS: 2026Sci...393..998C
    • W. Misener, M. Schulik, H. Schlichting, and J. Owen, 2025. "Blowin' in the non-isothermal wind: core-powered mass loss with hydrodynamic radiative transfer", The Astrophysical Journal 980:152.   DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ada777   arXiv: 2405.15221   ADS: 2025ApJ...980..152M
    • W. Misener, H. Schlichting, and E. Young, 2023. “Atmospheres as windows into sub-Neptune interiors: coupled chemistry and structure of hydrogen-silane-water envelopes”, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 524:981.   DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad1910   arXiv: 2303.09653   ADS: 2023MNRAS.524..981M
    • W. Misener and H. Schlichting, 2022. “The importance of silicate vapor in determining the structure, radii, and envelope mass fractions of sub-Neptunes”, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 514:6025.   DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac1732   arXiv: 2201.04299   ADS: 2022MNRAS.514.6025M
    • W. Misener and H. Schlichting, 2021. "To cool is to keep: residual H/He atmospheres of super-Earths and sub-Neptunes", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 503:5658.   DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stab895   arXiv: 2103.09212   ADS: 2021MNRAS.503.5658M
    My PhD thesis, "Exploring the thermal and chemical coupling between the silicate cores and hydrogen atmospheres of super-Earth and sub-Neptune exoplanets", is also available online.

    Full Curriculum Vitae