Dr. Nathaniel Brooks is an astrophysicist and science communicator based in Chicago with over 14 years of research experience in cosmology, galaxy formation, and observational astronomy. He holds a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Chicago and has conducted research using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), and ground-based observatories around the globe. Dr. Brooks is an associate research scientist at a major Midwest research institution and has contributed to publications in The Astrophysical Journal and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. A passionate advocate for science outreach, he contributes regularly to astronomy and science Q&A forums, helping the public understand the universe from black holes and dark matter to stargazing basics and telescope selection.