Embedded Files
Charity is a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) team. She is also a member of JWST's Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) science team and the JADES collaboration. She earned her PhD as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory working with Professor Marcia Rieke. She earned a B.S. in Physics at the University of Oregon, where she conducted research with Dr. Scott Fisher and Dr. Inger Jørgensen.
Refereed Publications
JADES: The Star Formation and Dust Attenuation Properties of Galaxies at 3<z<7
C. Woodrum, I. Shivaei, J. Witstok, A. Saxena et al. 2025, in preparation
Active Galactic Nuclei in the Green Valley at z~0.7
C. Woodrum, C.C. Williams, M. Rieke, K. Hainline et al. 2024, ApJ, 974, 305 [ADS] [arXiv]
Identification of High-Redshift Galaxy Overdensities in GOODS-N and GOODS-S
J. Helton, F. Sun, C. Woodrum, K. Hainline et al. 2024, ApJ, 974, 41 [ADS] [arXiv]
JADES: Using NIRCam Photometry to Investigate the Dependence of Stellar Mass Inferences on the IMF in the Early Universe
C. Woodrum, M. Rieke, Z. Ji, et al. 2024, PNAS, 121, 42 [ADS] [arXiv]
The JADES Origins Field: A New JWST Deep Field in the JADES Second NIRCam Data Release
D.J. Eisenstein, B.D. Johnson, incl. C. Woodrum, submitted to ApJS [ADS] [arXiv]
The JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey: Discovery of an Extreme Galaxy Overdensity at z=5.4 with JWST/NIRCam in GOODS-S
J. Helton, F. Sun, C. Woodrum, K. Hainline et al. 2024, ApJ, 962, 124 [ADS] [arXiv]
JADES NIRSpec Initial Data Release for the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Redshifts and Line Fluxes of Distant Galaxies from the Deepest JWST Cycle 1 NIRSpec Multi-Object Spectroscopy
A. Bunker, A. Cameron, incl. C. Woodrum, submitted to A&A [ADS] [arXiv]
JADES Initial Data Release for the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Revealing the Faint Infrared Sky with Deep JWST NIRCam Imaging
M. Rieke, B. Robertson, incl. C. Woodrum, 2023, ApJS, 269, 16 [ADS] [arXiv]
Overview of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES)
D.J. Eisenstein, C. Willott, incl. C. Woodrum, submitted to ApJS [ADS] [arXiv]
Molecular Gas Reservoirs in Massive Quiescent Galaxies at z~0.7 Linked to Late-time Star Formation
C. Woodrum, C.C. Williams, M. Rieke, J. Leja et al. 2022, ApJ, 940, 39 [ADS] [arXiv]
ALMA Measures Rapidly Depleted Molecular Gas Reservoirs in Massive Quiescent Galaxies at z~1.5
C.C. Williams, J. Spilker, K. Whitaker, R. Dave, C. Woodrum, et al. 2021, ApJ, 908, 54 [ADS] [arXiv]
The Gemini/HST Galaxy Cluster Project: Stellar Populations in the Low Redshift Reference Cluster Galaxies
I. Jørgensen, K. Chiboucas, K. Webb, C. Woodrum, AJ, 156, 224 [ADS] [arXiv]
The Evolution of Bulge-dominated Field Galaxies from z~1 to the Present
C. Woodrum, I. Jørgensen, R. S. Fisher, et al. 2017, ApJ, 847, 20 [ADS] [arXiv]
Education
2018-2024
University of Arizona
Ph.D. in Astronomy & Astrophysics
2018-2021
University of Arizona
M.S. in Astronomy & Astrophysics
2014-2018
University of Oregon
B.S. in Physics
2006-2009
Umpqua Community College
A.A.S. in Nursing (RN)
Research Interests
Extragalactic astronomy
Galaxy formation and evolution
Galaxy quenching
The field of galaxy evolution seeks to understand how galaxies form and evolve across cosmic time. Some of the most fundamental questions remain unknown, for example, how do star-forming galaxies grow in stellar mass? And why do quiescent galaxies stop forming stars (quench)? Charity's research investigates what drives this stellar mass growth and galaxy quenching. To do so, she uses the observations of galaxies, with both ground-based and space-based telescopes, to study their star formation and chemical enrichment histories.
About the Film
Space, Hope and Charity is an award-winning, independent documentary film by Sandy Cummings. The film follows the journey of Charity, who overcomes poverty and then tragedy while chasing her dream of becoming an astrophysicist. After losing everything, Charity gets her life and her dream back on track with help from childhood friends, mentors, and complete strangers. The film is a story of love and loss, and of finding purpose and joy again after devastating tragedy.
Woven through the film are themes of women in STEM, barriers to education, the importance of mentorship, and the lifesaving power of human connection.
Woody's Stars
After losing her son Woody, Charity dreamed of honoring him by offering financial support and mentorship to students in his name.
The Woody’s Stars Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation supports college students as they follow their own dreams of succeeding in STEM. This fund would not be possible without the support of Sandy Cummings (director of Space, Hope and Charity), Kathy Deggendorfer (founder of the Roundhouse Foundation), and Dr. Scott Fisher. Students will receive financial support and mentorship for all four years of their undergraduate degree.
You can be part of Woody's Stars by clicking "donate" below.
Selected TV Appearances
Selected Press
Selection of JWST Photos
Science Outreach
Charity is available to collaborate on educational projects. Below are a few examples of events where she has engaged with the public as a scientist. You can also request her as a NASA expert for community events through NASA's Universe of Learning at this link.
Keynote speaker for Churchill High School's Women in Science Symposium
JWST Expert for many different events, including appearing LIVE on National TV
Tour Guide of the Night Sky at
For Fun
In her free time, Charity recently earned her Private Pilot certificate and plans to continue flight training to acquire more certifications.
With the Piper Cherokee after first solo flight
In the cockpit after first solo cross-country flight
Contact Information
Astrophysics Science Division
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
charity.a.woodrum@nasa.gov
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