Resume/CV (current Apr. 2024)
Physics
I am Zachary Picker, a postdoc researcher at UCLA in the astroparticle theory group (TEPAPP). I am interested in dark matter of all kinds—particularly primordial black holes and axions, and the connections between fundamental theory and astrophysical observation. Here is my PhD Thesis, accepted in 2022.
Writing
I am also Zachary Picker, a writer of somewhere-between-fiction-and-nonfiction, with work published in magazines and journals such as Overland, Going Down Swinging, Island, Soft Stir, and more. I won the Swinburne Microfiction Prize in 2020, as well as both the Honi Soit Writing Competition and the USU Creative Awards in 2021. My short story ‘Besamim’ was adapted by Ayala for his ambient EP ‘All prayers flow to the storm drains’.
Projects
I am also also Zachary Picker, eccentric project enthusiast. I have created a number of audiovisual programs from scratch, collaborating most recently with electronic music producer Ayala (Donovan Janks) for Concrete Dreams at Mothership Studios, where we combined ambient electronic music with narrative storytelling and generative cityscape imagery.
Finally, I am Zachary Picker, Rollercoaster Tycoon world champion (2019), amateur banjoist, even-more-amateur kazooist, and person-who-likes-to-put-everything-they-do-on-one-website.
