Brandon Pries

Graduate Research Assistant

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology (Expected 2027)

• Doctoral Minor, Higher Education

Bachelor of Science, Astrophysics, Michigan State University (2022)

• Minor, Mathematics
• Minor, Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering (CMSE)
• Minor, Data Science

Honors & Awards

• Outstanding Online Head TA of the Year, Georgia Tech (April 17, 2024)
• Online Head TA of the Year, School of Physics, Georgia Tech (March 7, 2024)
• Thomas H. Osgood Outstanding Undergraduate Senior Award, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State (April 28, 2022)
• Outstanding Undergraduate Learning Assistant in Upper-Level Physics/Astronomy Course, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State (April 22, 2021 & April 28, 2022)
• Honors College, Michigan State (Fall 2018 - Spring 2022)
• Professorial Assistantship research scholarship, Michigan State (Fall 2018 - Spring 2019 & Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)

Research

I'm primarily interested in black holes, gravity, machine learning (ML), and computational methods. I'm currently working with Prof. John Wise on the formation and evolution of direct collapse black holes (DCBHs) in the early universe. I'm also continuing work on neutrino production from dark matter annihilation with the IceCube Collaboration at Michigan State.

Papers

Publications

1. E. Mone, B. Pries, J. H. Wise, & S. Ferrans. "Beyond the Goldilocks Zone: Identifying Critical Features in Massive Black Hole Formation." ApJ 982 39, March 20, 2025 (published online March 17, 2025). [ApJ, arXiv, ADS]

Talks & Presentations

Invited Seminar/Colloquia/Journal Club Presentations

1. B. Pries & N. Willey "Recurrent Neural Networks as a Tool for IceCube-Upgrade Reconstructions." Student Machine Learning Initiative, Brown University, October 5, 2021.

Contributed Conference Presentations

1. B. Pries. "Identifying Direct Collapse Black Hole Sites in Cosmological Simulations."" The Formation and Early Evolution of Supermassive Black Holes, Baltimore, MD, November 20, 2024.
2. B. Pries. "Sensitivities to WIMP Annihilation Cross Sections with IceCube DeepCore." APS April Meeting, Sacramento, CA, April 5, 2024.
3. B. Pries. "Sensitivities to Low-Mass WIMP Annihilation Cross Sections with IceCube Neutrinos." APS April Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, April 24, 2023.
4. B. Pries. "Trials Improvements for Low-Mass WIMP Annihilation Search." Spring 2023 IceCube Collaboration Meeting, Aachen, Germany, March 14, 2023.
5. B. Pries. IceCube-Upgrade Reconstructions using Recurrent Neural Networks." 2021 APS DPF Meeting, Florida State University, July 14, 2021.
6. B. Pries. "Update on IceCube-Upgrade Reconstructions." Spring 2021 IceCube Collaboration Meeting, Aachen, Germany, March 18, 2021.
7. B. Pries. "Recurrent Neural Networks for IceCube-Upgrade Reconstruction." Fall 2020 IceCube Collaboration Meeting, Madison, WI, September 14, 2020.

Contributed Conference Posters

1. B. Pries. "Using Neutrinos to Search for WIMPs in Dwarf Galaxies." University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum, Michigan State, April 8, 2022.
2. B. Pries. "Searching for Dark Matter in Dwarf Galaxies Through Neutrino Production." Mid-Michigan Symposium for Undergraduate Research Experiences, Michigan State, July 28, 2021.
3. B. Pries. "Recurrent Neural Networks for IceCube Upgrade Reconstructions." University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum, Michigan State, April 15, 2021.
4. B. Pries. "Applications of Recurrent Neural Networks to the IceCube-Upgrade." Mid-Michigan Symposium for Undergraduate Research Experiences, Michigan State, August 10, 2020.

Contributed Seminar/Colloquia/Journal Club Presentations

1. B. Pries. "Limits on WIMP Annihilation Cross Sections with IceCube Neutrinos." Cosmic Coffee, Georgia Tech Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, October 11, 2023.
2. B. Pries. "IceCube Search for Low-Mass WIMP Annihilation in Dwarf Galaxies." Astronomy Seminar, Michigan State Department of Physics and Astronomy, April 20, 2022.

Outreach Presentations

1. B. Pries. "Constraining WIMP Annihilation Rates via Neutrinos." Astronomy Club, Michigan State, March 20, 2023.
2. B. Pries. "Detecting Neutrinos from WIMPs." Society of Physics Students, Michigan State, October 21, 2021.
3. B. Pries. "Recurrent Neural Networks for Low-Energy Neutrino Interaction Reconstruction." Society of Physics Students, Michigan State, October 8, 2020.

Other Publications

Published Astrobites 

1. B. Pries. "Do X-Rays Help or Hurt Black Hole Formation?" Astrobites, May 14, 2025. [Astrobites]
2. S. Grayson, C. Meldorf, B. Pries, & W. Smith. "Guide to ΛCDM." Astrobites, January 6, 2025. [Astrobites]
3. B. Pries. "Over the Limit: Accretion and Feedback of Early Black Holes." Astrobites, December 25, 2024. [Astrobites]
4. B. Pries. "Big Black Holes in Little Galaxies." Astrobites, November 8, 2024. [Astrobites]
5. B. Pries. "Heavy Metal: Actinides from Compact Object Mergers." Astrobites, November 2, 2024. [Astrobites]
6. B. Pries. "Weight Gain: Growing Little Black Holes in the Early Universe." Astrobites, September 24, 2024. [Astrobites]
7. B. Pries. "New Species of Dwarf Galaxy in the Galaxy Cluster Ecosystem?" Astrobites, September 10, 2024. [Astrobites]
8. B. Pries. "A Universal Accounting Problem: Tension in Reionization Estimates." Astrobites, August 17, 2024. [Astrobites]
9. B. Pries. "Blowout: AGNs Quenching Star Formation in Dwarf Galaxies." Astrobites, June 6, 2024. [Astrobites]
10. Astrobites Collaboration (incl. B. Pries). "2024 Album of the Year: A Total Eclipse of the Sun." Astrobites, April 11, 2024. [Astrobites]
11. B. Pries. "Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies: Not as Small as We Thought?" Astrobites, April 1, 2024. [Astrobites]
12. B. Pries. "Detecting Ghostly Neutrinos that Skim Earth's Crust." Astrobites, February 8, 2024. [Astrobites]

Memberships & Committees

Georgia Tech

• Center for Teaching and Learning (Spring 2023 - Present)
• Graduate Association of Physicists (Fall 2022 - Present)
• Center for Relativistic Astrophysics (Fall 2022 - Present)

Michigan State

• Stellar Mentorship Program (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)
• Astronomy Club (Fall 2018 - Spring 2022)
  • Vice President (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)
• Society of Physics Students (Fall 2018 - Spring 2022)
• Department of Physics and Astronomy (Fall 2018 - Spring 2022)

Professional Societies and Collaborations

• Astrobites Collaboration (January 2024 - Present)
• American Astronomical Society (April 2022 - Present)
• American Physical Society (May 2021 - Present)
• IceCube Collaboration (August 2018 - Present)

Theses

Undergraduate Thesis

• B. Pries. "Indirect Search for Dark Matter via Neutrinos from WIMP Annihilation with IceCube." Michigan State Department of Physics and Astronomy, May 4, 2022.

Works in Progress

Manuscripts in Preparation

1. R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube Collaboration, incl. B. Pries). "Limits on GeV-scale WIMP Annihilation in Dwarf Spheroidals with IceCube DeepCore." In prep.