Rob Thacker's homepage - Publications

Here is a listing of my publications and presentations (seminars and conference presentations are merged into one list). Summary: 44 refereed papers, 29 non-refereed publications, reports, proceedings and books, 100+ conference presentations.

Refereed publications

44. "On the estimation and detection of the Rees-Sciama effect", Fullana, M. J., Arnau, J. V., Thacker, R. J., Couchman, H. M. P. and Saez, D. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 464, 3784, (2017).

43. "Comparing Simulations of AGN Feedback”, Richardson, M. L. A., Scannapieco, E., Devriendt, J., Slyz, A., Thacker, R. J., Dubois, Y.,Wurster, J., Silk, J.,The Astrophysical Journal, 825, 83, (2016).

42. “nIFTy Galaxy Cluster simulations IV: Quantifying the Influence of Baryons on Halo Properties”, Cui, W., Sembolini, F., Yepes, G., Pearce, F. R., Knebe, A., Kay, S. T., Power, C., Beck, A., Borgani, S., Dalla Vecchia, C., Dave, R., Dolag, K., Elahi, P. J., February, S., Hobbs, A., Lau, E., McCarthy, I. G., Murante, G., Nagai, D., Nelson, K., Newton, R., Puchwein, E., Read, J., Saro, A., Springel., V., and Thacker, R. J., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 458, 4052, (2016).

41. "nIFTy Galaxy Cluster simulations: dark matter and non-radiative models", Sembolini, F., Yepes, G., Pearce, F. R., Knebe, A., Kay, S. T., Power, C., Cui, W., Beck, A., Borgani, S., Dalla Vecchia, C., Dave, R., Dolag, K., Elahi, P. J., February, S., Hobbs, A., Lau, E., McCarthy, I. G., Murante, G., Nagai, D., Nelson, K., Newton, R., Puchwein, E., Read, J., Saro, A., Springel., V., and Thacker, R. J., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 457, 4063, (2016).

40. "Observing and analyzing images from a simulated high redshift universe", Morgan, R. J., Windhort, R. A., Scannapieco, E., and Thacker R. J., Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 127, 803, (2015).

39. “AGN Feedback models: Correlations with star formation and observational implications of time evolution”, Thacker, R. J., MacMackin, C., Wurster, J., and Hobbs, A., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 443, 1125, (2014).

38. “Cloud angular momentum and effective viscosity in global SPH simulations with feedback”, Williamson, D. J., Thacker, R. J., Wurster, J. and Gibson, B. K., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 442, 3674, (2014).

37. “High Velocity-dispersion Cold Gas in ULIRG Outflows. 1: Direct Simulations”, Williamson, D. J., Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E. and Bruggen, M., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 441, 389, (2014).

36. “Hybrid Cosmological Simulations with Stream Velocities”, Richardson, M. L. A., Scannpieco, E. and Thacker, R. J., The Astrophysical Journal, 771, 81, (2013).

35. “A comparison of AGN feedback implementations”, Wurster, J., and Thacker, R. J., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 431, 2513, (2013).

34. “Accretion Disc Particle Accretion in Major Merger Simulations”, Wurster, J., and Thacker, R. J., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 431, 539, (2013).

33. “The Halo Shape of Polar Disc Galaxies’, Snaith, O. N., Gibson, B. K., Brook, C. B., Knebe, A., and Thacker, R. J., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 425, 1967, (2012).

32. “The Distribution Of Metals in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations of Dwarf Disk Galaxies”, Pilkington, K., Gibson, B. K., Brook, C. B., Calura, F., Stinson, G. S., Thacker, R. J., Michel-Dansac, L., Bailin, J., Couchman, H. M. P., Wadsley, J., Quinn, T. R., Maccio, A., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 425, 969, (2012).

31. “Metallicity Gradients in Disks: Do Galaxies form Inside-Out?” Pilkington, K., Few, C. G., Gibson, B. K., Calura, F., Michel-Dansac, L., Thacker, R. J., Molla, M., Matteucci, F., Rahimi, A., Kawata, D., Brook, C. B., & Stinson, G. S., Astronomy & Astrophysics, 540, 56, (2012).

30. “Effective viscosity from cloud-cloud collisions in global galaxy simulations”, Williamson, D. & Thacker, R. J., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 421, 2170, (2012).

29. ``Peaks above the Maxwellian Sea: A New Approach to Finding Substructure in N-Body Haloes " Elahi, P. J., Thacker, R. J., & Widrow, L., accepted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 418, 320, (2011).

28. ``The Cold Gas Content of Bulgeless Dwarf Galaxies", Pilkington, K., Gibson, B. K., Calura, F., Brooks, A. M., Mayer, L., Brook, C. B., Stinson, G. S., Thacker, R. J., Few, C. G., Cunnama, D and Wadsley, J. accepted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 417, 2891, (2011).

27. ``Planet B'', Thacker, R. J., Alternatives Journal 36, 4, 63 (2010).

26. ``Estimating small angular scale CMB anisotropy with high resolution N-body simulations: weak lensing'', Fullana, M. J., Arnau, J. V., Thacker, R. J., Couchman, H. M. P., & Saez, D., The Astrophysical Journal, 712, 367, (2010).

25. ``Can substructure in the Galactic Halo explain the ATIC and PAMELA results?'', Elahi, P., Widrow, L., & Thacker R. J., Physical Review D, 80, 123513, (2009).

24. ``A Physical Model of Lyman Alpha Emitters'', Tilvi, V., Malhotra, S., Rhoads, J. E., Scannapieco, E., Thacker, R. J., Iliev, I. T., & Mellema, G., The Astrophysical Journal, 704, 729 (2009).

23. ``Power Spectra for the Small-scale Universe'', Widrow, L., Elahi, P., Thacker, R. J., Richardson, M., & Scannapieco, E., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 397, 1275, (2009).

22. ``The Sub-halo Mass function'', Elahi, P., Thacker, R. J., Widrow, L. & E. Scannapieco, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 395, 1950, (2009).

21. ``Re-engineering the eastern Lake Erie littoral food web: the trophic function of non-indigenous Ponto-Caspian species'', Campbell, L. M., Thacker, R. J., Barton D., Muir, D., Greenwood, D., Hecky, R. E., The Journal of Great Lakes Research, 35, 224 (2009).

20. ``Predictions of Quasar Clustering: Redshift, Luminosity and Selection Dependence '', Thacker, R.J., Scannapieco, E. & Couchman, H. M. P., The Astrophysical Journal, 693, 552, (2009).

19. ``An n-body/SPH Study of Galaxy Mass Density Profiles'', Foyle, K., Courteau, S., & Thacker, R. J. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 386, 1821 (2008).

18. ``Measuring AGN Feedback with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect'', Scannapieco, E., Thacker, R. J., & Couchman, H. M. P., The Astrophysical Journal, 678, 674(2008).

17. ``Quasars: What turns them off?'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E., & Couchman, H. M. P., The Astrophysical Journal, 653, 86 (2006).

16. ``Quasars & Cosmic Evolution: The Role of Outflows'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E., & Couchman, H. M. P., in High Performance Computing Systems and Applications, eds D. Clarke & R. Dupree (2006).

15. ``A Parallel Adaptive P3M Code with Hierarchical Particle Reordering'', Thacker, R. J., & Couchman, H. M. P., Computer Physics Communications, 174, 540 (2006).

14. ``The Source of Intergalactic Metals'', Scannapieco, E., Pichon, C., Aracil, B., Petitjean, P., Thacker, R. J., Bergeron, J. & Couchman, H. M. P., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 365, 651 (2006).

13. ``A New Fast Parallel Statistical Measurement Technique for Computational Cosmology'', Thacker, R. J., & Couchman, H. M. P., International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking ,4, 303 (2006).

12. ``Simulating the joint evolution of quasars, galaxies and their large-scale distribution'', Springel V., White S. D. M., Jenkins A., Frenk C. S., Yoshida N., Gao L., Navarro J., Thacker R., Croton D., Helly J., Peacock J. A., Cole S., Thomas P., Couchman H., Evrard A., Colberg J., and Pearce F., Nature, 435, 629 (2005).

11. ``Trophic niche segregation in the Nilotic ichthyofauna of Lake Albert (Uganda, East Africa): Trophic generalists make good invaders'', Campbell, L. M., Wandera, S. B., Thacker, R. J., Hecky, R. E. & Dixon, D. G., Environmental Biology of Fishes, 74, 257 (2005).

10. ``Toward an Improved Analytical Description of Lagrangian Bias'', Scannapieco, E. & Thacker, R. J., The Astrophysical Journal 619, 1 (2005).

9. ``Temporal Bias in the Clustering of Massive Cosmological Objects'', Scannapieco, E., & Thacker, R. J., PHYSTAT 2003: Statistical Problems in Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology, SLAC (Stanford) Publication (2004).

8. ``On the Spatial Correlations of Lyman Break Galaxies'', Scannapieco, E., & Thacker, R. J., The Astrophysical Journal, Letters 590, L69, (2003).

7. ``HYDRA-MPI: An Adaptive Particle-Particle, Particle-Mesh code for conducting Cosmological Simulations on MPP Architectures'', Thacker R. J., Pringle, G., Couchman, H. M. P. & Booth, S., in High Performance Computing Systems and Applications, ed D. Senechal, NRC Research Press, (2003).

6. ``Violence in the Dark Ages'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E., & Davis, M., The Astrophysical Journal, 581, 836, (2002).

5. ``High-Redshift Galaxy Outflows and the Formation of Dwarf Galaxies'', Scannapieco, E., Thacker, R. J., & Davis, M., The Astrophysical Journal, 557, 605 (2001).

4. ``Star Formation, Supernovae Feedback and the Angular Momentum Problem in Numerical CDM Cosmogony: Half Way There?'', Thacker, R. J., & Couchman, H. M. P., The Astrophysical Journal, Letters, 555, L17 (2001).

3. ``Implementing Feedback in Simulations of Galaxy Formation: A Survey of Methods'', Thacker, R. J. & Couchman, H. M. P., The Astrophysical Journal, 545, 728 (2000).

2. ``Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics in Cosmology: A Comparative Study of Implementations'', Thacker, R. J., Tittley, E. R., Pearce, F. R., Couchman, H. M. P., & Thomas, P. A., Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 319, 619 (2000).

1. ``Simulating Galaxy Formation on SMP's'', Thacker, R. J., Couchman, H. M. P., & Pearce, F. R., in High Performance Computing Systems and Applications, Kluwer Academic (1998).

Papers in preparation or submitted

Non-refereed publications, reports, proceedings and books

29. "Unveiling the Cosmos: Mid-Term Review of Canadian Astronomy", Thacker, R. J., Spekkens, K., Balogh, M., Crampton, D., Dobbs, M., Strauss, M., van Kerkwijk, M., Venn, K., and Wilson, C., 82 page report of the Mid-Term Review 2015 Panel, published by the Canadian Astronomical Society, December 2016, ISBN 978-0-9730881-5-1.

28. "Science3: A Science Student’s Success Guide" Rawle, F., Nickle, T., Thacker, R. J., and Morante, S., Nelson Publishing Canada, April 2013, ISBN-10: 0-17-666273-1.

27. "Unveiling the Cosmos: A Vision for Canadian Astronomy", Pritchet, C., Thacker, R. J., Abraham, R., Doyon, R., Kaiser, N., Kaspi, V., and Seaquist, E., 120 page report of the Long Range Plan 2010 Panel, published by Canadian Astronomical Society, November 2011, ISBN 978-0-9878010-0-5.

26. "NRC Herzberg Community Advisory Panel: Report on the 2015 Pan-Canadian Townhall Meeting Process," Thacker, R. J., Spekkens, K., Balogh, M., Crampton, D., Dobbs, M., Strauss, M., van Kerkwijk, M., Venn, K., andWilson, C., 28 page report submitted to NRC Herzberg (2015).

25. "The Thirty Meter Telescope and Astronomy in Canada", Abraham, R., Carlberg, R., Pritchet, C., Racine, R., Seaquist, E. and Thacker, R. J., 70 page report submitted to National Research Council on behalf of the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy, (2013).

24. ``Galaxy Formation: A White Paper for the Canadian LRP 2010”, J.P. Willis, R.G. Abraham, M.L. Balogh, D. Crampton, M. Sawicki, R.J. Thacker, T.M.A. Webb, C.J. Willott, now archived at www.casca.ca

23. "The ALMA Telescope", Thacker, R. J., Alternatives Journal, 39, 5, (2013) Unrefereed contribution, giving non-technical discussion of the ALMA telescope’s design and potential.

22. "The Disappearing Universe", Thacker, R. J., Alternatives Journal, 39, 5, (2013) Invited op-ed piece on the cultural impact of light pollution in cities.

21. How to rewire an astrophysicist’s brain”, (www.casca.ca) Evaluation of the Banff Centre 2009 Science Communications workshop E-Cassiopeia, Newsletter of the Canadian Astronomical Society, 15th September 2009.

20. "Fly me to the moon", www.themarknews.com Promotion of the Galilean Nights festival during International Year of Astronomy.

19. "A Universe of Possibilities", www.themarknews.com Discussion of the Long Range Plan for Canadian astronomy.

18. "The Burden of Proof", www.themarknews.com Popular article on the scientific method and the lack of understanding of this process in the general public.

17. "Reviewing Peer Review", www.themarknews.com Overview of the peer review system and response to allegations of articles being “blocked” by an elite group of researchers.

16. "When People Stop Trusting Scientists", www.themarknews.com A look at popular representations of scientists and how signficant a “sin” falisification of data is.

15. "The Ultimate Time Machine", www.themarknews.com How the James Webb Space Telescope will revolutionize our knowledge of the cosmos.

14. "When Supercomputers Get Too Super", www.themarknews.com Next generation supercomputers face significant design challenges both in terms of speed and efficiency.

13. "The Arctic Stars are Brightest", www.themarknews.com Astronomical seeing on Ellesmere Island is likely the best in the world.

12. "Let’s Teach Innovation", www.themarknews.com Commentary on the federal/provincial policy separation of research and teaching.

11. "What is an Engineer?", www.themarknews.com Overview of Bill 68 and the natural sciences exemption in professional engineering acts.

10. "Finding a Habitable Plane", www.themarknews.com Overview of the controversy surrounding the disputed discovery of a habitable planet around another star (Gliese 581g).

9. "Tianhe-1A: Computenik Revisited", www.themarknews.com Commentary on the potential impact of China having the fastest supercomputer in the world.

8. "Why Spend on Space When Earth is in Turmoil?", www.themarknews.com Commentary on the value of space exploration in the face of severe economic problems.

7. ``Cosmic Background Radiation Theory and Analysis: Whitepaper for the Canadian Long Range Plan in Astronomy”, Bond, J. R., Afshordi, N., Babul, A., Couchman, H., Dobbs, M., Frolov, A., Halpern, M., Holder, G., Martin, P., Marleau, F., McNamara, B., Netterfield, B., Navarro, J., Pen, U-L., Pogosian, L., Pogosyan, D., Scott, D., Sigurdson, K., Turok, N., Thacker R., Wadsley, J, now archived at www.casca.ca

6. ``Predictions of Quasar Clustering: Redshift, Luminosity and Selection Dependence'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E., Couchman H. M. P., & Richardson, M., in ``The Monster's Fiery Breath: Feedback in galaxies, groups and clusters'', edr: Sebastien Heinz, AIP Press (2009)

5. ``Halo and Galaxy Formation Histories from the Millennium Simulation: Public Release'', Lemson, G and the Virgo Consortium, astro-ph/0608019

4. ``Computational Astrophysics'', Hakkila, J., Buzasi, D. & Thacker, R., review chapter,``CRC Computer Science and Engineering Handbook'', 2nd Edition.

3. ``Numerical Simulation of the Formation of Galaxies: The End of the Beginning?'', Couchman, H. M. P., & Thacker, R. J., Proceedings DRAO conference ``Seeing Through the Dust'', eds. Taylor, A.R., Landecker, T. & Willis, A. (2001).

2. ``The Angular Momentum Problem in CDM Cosmologies: The End of the Beginning?'', Couchman, H. M. P., & Thacker, R. J., Proceedings IAU Symposium 208, eds. Makino, J. & Hut P. (2001).

1. ``Structure Formation from Numerical Simulations'', Thacker R. J. & Davis M., in The Hy-Redshift Universe: Galaxy Formation and Evolution at High Redshift, ASP Conference series (1999).

Conference Presentations, Seminars and Invited Lectures

104. "Light Matters", TEDx presentation on the influence of light in science, art and technology at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, (March 2017).

103. "Thoughts on Learning”, Thacker, R. J., invited public talk, Halifax Sci-Tech Expo (Regional Science Fair), Halifax (March 2017)

102. "Aliens: Where are they?”, Thacker, R. J., invited public talk, Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, Shubenacadie (January 2017)

101. "The Beginnings and Extremes of the Universe”, Thacker, R. J., invited public talk, SMU Elder Learners Program, Halifax (October 2016)

100. "Aliens: Where are they?”, Thacker, R. J., invited public talk, Science Literacy Week 2016, Keshen Goodman Library (September 2016)

99. "Aliens: Where are they?”, Thacker, R. J., invited public talk, Dalhousie Explore Program for Exchange Students, Halifax (July 2016).

98. "Billions and Billions: Galaxy Formation Grows Up”, Thacker, R. J., invited presentation, HPCS 2016, Edmonton (June 2016).

97. "Mass media comms: Experiences and Techniques”, Thacker, R. J., invited presentation, CASCA 2016, Winnipeg (May 2016).

96. "The Beginning and Extremes of the Universe”, invited public lecture, Rotary Club of Windsor, Nova Scotia (Dec 2015).

95. "Raiders of the Lost Galaxy”, Ruth Northcott Memorial Lecture, invited public lecture, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada General Assembly, Halifax, (July 2015).

94. "AGN feedback models: SFR and accretion co-evolution", International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, University of Western Australia, (March 2015).

93. ``Big Hopes for Big Scopes: Research Astronomy in the 2020s”, invited public lecture, Nova East Star Party, Smiley’s Provincial Park, (August 2014).

92. ``AGN vs Star formation: Impact”, invited discussion session leader, ``AGN vs Star Formation”, AGN vs Star Formation Conference, University of Durham, Durham (July 2014).

91. ``Influence of real vs. numerical bulge mass on SFRs during major mergers, poster presentation,Wurster, J., and Thacker, R. J., ``AGN vs Star Formation", University Of Durham, (July 2014).

90. ``AGN feedback models: Correlations with star formation and observational implications of time evolution, contributed talk, Thacker, R. J., ``AGN vs Star Formation", University Of Durham, (July 2014).

89. ``Explaining the Low Luminosity Tail of the AGN Luminosity Distribution, poster presentation, Hani, M., Thacker, R. J., High Performance Computing Systems and Applications 2014, Halifax, Canada, (June 2014, 2nd place in student poster category).

88. ``Non-linear Structure for Formation”, invited review, Canadian Association of Physicists Annual Congress, Sudbury (June 2014).

87. ``Mid-Term Review: Overview of the Process”, invited review, Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Quebec City (June 2014).

86. ``Writing Proposals for Computing Time Allocation Committees”, Invited workshop presentation, Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Quebec City (June 2014).

85. ``What causes retrograde molecular clouds?, poster presentation, Williamson, D., Thacker, R. J., Wurster, J., Gibson, B. K., ``Fire Down Below: The Impact of Feedback on Star and Galaxy Formation", University of California, Santa Barbara, (April 2014).

84. ``Dark Energy in the Cosmos”, Invited Public Lecture, Nova Scotia Institue of Science, Natural History Museum, Halifax (April 2014).

83. ``A Comparison of AGN Feedback Implementations”, seminar, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (March 2013).

82. ``A Comparison of AGN Feedback Implementations”, keynote talk, Numerical Cosmology 2012, University of Cambridge, UK (July 2012).

81. ``Observations and simulations of the CMB temperature anisotropy at very small angular scales”, Frontiers of Fundamental Physics: The Eleventh International Symposium. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1446, Fullana, M., Arnau, J., Thacker, R., Couchman, H., Saez, D. (2012).

80. ``Skeletons in the AGN modelling cupboard”, Invited seminar, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia (April 2012).

79. ``Skeletons in the AGN modelling cupboard”, Invited seminar, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia (April 2012).

78. ``Computational Astrophysics”, Hakkila, J., Buzasi, D. & Thacker, R., review chapter, “Computer Science and Engineering Handbook”, 3rd Edition (2012), CRC Press.

77. ``Stephen Hawking: His Life and Achievements”, Public Lecture, invited by AIM MORE, Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Medicine Centre, Halifax (Jan 2012).

76.``Finding streams in dark matter halos", seminar, Laval University, Quebec City (March 2011, invited).

75. ``LRP 2010: A vision for Canadian Astronomy 2010-2020", colloquium, St. Mary's University, Halifax (Jan 2011).

74. ``Computing the Cosmos: From the Big Bang to Galaxies'', Public Lecture, Keshen Goodman Library, Halifax (October 2010, invited).

73. ``Aliens: Where are they?", Public Lecture, Keshen Goodman Library, Halifax (October 2010, invited).

72. ``The Beginnings and Extremes of our Universe'', Public Lecture, Keshen Goodman Library, Halifax (Sept 2010, invited).

71. ``Weak Lensing of the CMB'', seminar, 50th Birthday Celebration of the Insitute for Theoretical Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton (Sept 2010, invited).

70. ``Finding Streams in the Dark”, Elahi, P., Widrow, L., & Thacker, R. J., poster, CASCA 2010, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, (May 2010).

69. ``CMB weak lensing at high l'', poster, CASCA 2010, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, (May 2010).

68. ``CMB Weak lensing at high l”, seminar, 19th Kingston Meeting, CITA25 Reunion, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto (May 2010).

67. “Finding Streams in the Dark”, Elahi, P., Widrow, L., & Thacker, R. J., poster, 19th Kingston Meeting, CITA25 Reunion, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto (May 2010).

66. ``Computing the Cosmos: From the Big Bang to Galaxies'', Public Lecture, Queen's Observatory, Kingston, (May 2010, invited).

65. ``CMB weak lensing at high l'', seminar, Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics, Victoria, BC (March 2010, invited).

64. ``What Box? Lessons learned from the 2009 Banff Centre Science Communications Workshop'', seminar, Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics, Victoria, BC (March 2010, invited).

63. ``Creation through the lens of history: CMB weak lensing at high l'', colloquium, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS (February 2010, invited).

62. ``Creation through the lens of history: CMB weak lensing at high l'', seminar, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, ON (January 2010).

61. ``Creation through the lens of history: CMB weak lensing at high l'', seminar, Queen's University, Kingston, ON (January 2010, invited).

60. ``The Cosmic Distribution of Quasars: Where are they and how do they Cluster?", colloquium, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, (October 2009, invited).

59. ``CMB weak lensing at high l'' Thacker, R. J., Saez, D., Fullana, M. J., Arnau, J. V., & Couchman, H. M. P., ``2nd Halifax Meeting on Computational Astrophysics'', Halifax, Nova Scotia (October 2009).

58. ``Galaxy Formation – A Detailed Examination of Cloud-Cloud Interactions'', Williamson, D., & Thacker, R. J., ``2nd Halifax Meeting on Computational Astrophysics'', Halifax, Nova Scotia (October 2009).

57. ``Surface Brightness Profiles of Simulated Galaxies: Comparison to Stacked HUDF Images at z=6'', Hurry, J., & Thacker, R. J., ``2nd Halifax Meeting on Computational Astrophysics'', Halifax, Nova Scotia (October 2009).

56. ``What Box? Lessons learned from the 2009 Banff Centre Science Communications Workshop'', colloquium, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, NS (September 2009).

55. ``Computing the Cosmos: From the Big Bang to Galaxies'', Public Lecture, Mount Royal University, Calgary, (October 2009, invited).

54. ``Predictions of Quasar Clustering: Redshift, Luminosity and Selection Dependence'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E., Couchman H. M. P., & Richardson, M., poster presentation, ``Unveiling the Mass: Galaxy Masses 09'', Kingston, Ontario (June 2009).

53. ``Can substructure in the Galactic Halo explain the PAMELA and ATIC results?'', Elahi, P. J., Widrow, L., Thacker, R. J., poster presentation, ``Unveiling the Mass: Galaxy Masses 09'', Kingston, Ontario (June 2009).

52. ``Simulation of Galaxy High Redshift Images'', Morgan, R., Scannapieco, E., Windhorst, R. A., & Thacker, R. J., poster presentation, 214th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Pasadena, USA (June 2009).

51. ``Galaxy Formation: A detailed examination of cloud-cloud interactions'', Williamson, D. & Thacker, R. J., ``High Performance Computing Systems and Applications 2009" Kingston, Ontario (June 2009).

50. ``Predictions of Quasar Clustering: Redshift, Luminosity and Selection Dependence'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E., Couchman H. M. P., & Richardson, M., ``The Monster's Fiery Breath: Feedback in galaxies, groups and clusters'', Madison, Wisconsin, USA, (June 2009).

49. ``Looking for the light from dark matter'', Elahi, P. J., Widrow, L., Thacker, R. J., & Scannapieco, E., Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) Annual Meeting, Toronto, (May 2009).

48. ``Predictions of Quasar Clustering: Redshift, Luminosity and Selection Dependence'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E., Couchman H. M. P., & Richardson, M., Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) Annual Meeting, Toronto, (May 2009).

47. ``Computing the Cosmos: From the Big Bang to Galaxies'', Public Lecture, Saint Mary's University International Year of Astronomy Lecture Series, Halifax, (February 2009).

46. ``Where are the Aliens?'', Cafe Scientifique, part of Saint Mary's University International Year of Astronomy events, Halifax, (January 2009).

45. ``Top Ten Events in the International Year of Astronomy 2009", seminar, AST Teachers conference, Halifax, (October 2008).

44. ``Computing the Cosmos - The Universe in a Computer'', Public Lecture, Halifax Chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society, Halifax, (October 2008).

43. ``Computing the Cosmos - The Universe in a Computer'', Colloquium, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, (October 2008, invited).

42. ``Top Ten Events in the International Year of Astronomy 2009", seminar, ACASE Teaching conference, SMU, (July 2008).

41. ``The Cold Dark Matter Hierarchy'', Elahi, P. J., Widrow, L., & Thacker, R. J., Santa Fe 08 Summer Cosmology Workshop, Santa Fe, USA (June 2008).

40. ``A New Technique to Understand the Impact of Black Holes on Galaxy Formation'', Colloquium, Queen's University, Kingston, (March 2008, invited).

39. ``Two Easy Pieces: Radial Profile Breaks in Disk Galaxies & the Variability of Substructure in Dark Matter Halos'', Seminar, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (February 2008).

38. ``A New Technique to Understand the Impact of Black Holes on Galaxy Formation'', Colloquium, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, (November 2007, invited).

37. ``Galaxy Mass Density Profiles'', Foyle, K., Courteau, S., & Thacker, R. J., poster presentation, Formation and Evolution of Galaxy Disks, Rome (October 2007).

36. ``An n-body/SPH study of galaxy mass density profiles'', Foyle, K., Courteau, S., & Thacker, R. J., contributed talk, Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Kingston (June 2007).

35. ``Exploring the Bottom of the Cold Dark Matter Hierarchy'', Elahi, P., Widrow, L., Thacker, R. J., poster presentation, Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Kingston (June 2007).

34. ``Computing the Cosmos - The Universe in a Computer'', Public Lecture, Kingston Public Lectures on Astronomy, Kingston, (May 2007, invited).

33. ``Quasars & Cosmic Evolution: The Role of Outflows'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E., & Couchman, H. M. P., Seminar, High Performance Computing Systems and Applications 2006, St. John's, (May 2006).

32. ``Particle Methods in Numerical Cosmology'', Thacker, R. J., Seminar, American Physical Society March Meeting, Baltimore, (March 2006).

31. ``From First Objects to Quasars: Recent Results in Numerical Cosmology'', Seminar, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (March 2006, invited).

30. ``Galaxy Formation: The End of the Beginning'', Seminar, St Mary's University, Halifax (March 2006).

29. ``Dark become light: Simulating how black holes regulate cosmic evolution'', Seminar, {\em HPCVL-SHARCNET Joint Symposium}, Ryerson University, Toronto (October 2005, invited).

28. ``Quasars: What turns them off?'', Thacker, R. J., Scannapieco, E. & Couchman, H. M. P., poster presentation, Nearly Normal Galaxies in an LCDM Universe Meeting, Santa Cruz, (August 2005).

27. ``Tier 1 Computing in Canada: An Astronomy Perspective'', Thacker, R. J., discussion session, High Performance Computing Systems and Applications 2005, Guelph (May 2005).

26. ``The Effect of Large Scale Power on Very Small Scale Structure in CDM Simulations'', Elahi, P., Widrow, L., & Thacker, R. J., poster presentation, Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Montreal (May 2005).

25. ``Semi-analytics versus Simulation: The QSO Luminosity Function'', Seminar, CITA-CIAR Numerical Astrophysics Workshop, CITA, Toronto (January 2005).

24. ``Hydra\_OMP: A Parallel Implementation of the `HYDRA' Code'', Seminar, {\em International Workshop on Computational Physics 2004}, National Center for High Performance Computing, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan (December 2004, invited).

23. ``Recent Developments in Cosmological n-body Simulations'', Seminar, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (November 2004).

22. ``Introduction to OpenMP'', Teaching Seminar, HPCVL Fall Workshop 2004, University of Ottawa, Ottawa (November 2004).

21. ``Introduction to OpenMP'', Teaching Seminar, HPCVL Fall Workshop 2004, Queen's University, Kingston (November 2004).

20. ``OpenMP in the Real World'', Seminar, SHARCNET Fall Workshop 2004, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo (October 2004, invited).

19. ``Temporal trends in mercury and organic contaminants in Coho and Chinook salmon from Lake Ontario'', Campbell, L. M., French, T., Hayton, A., Schneider, W., Thacker, R., & Jackson, D., Platform presentation, Aquatic Toxicology Workshop, Charlottetown, (October 2004).

18. ``A New Fast Parallel Statistical Measurement Technique for Computational Cosmology'', Thacker, R. J., & Couchman H. M. P., Applications seminar, High Performance Computing Systems and Applications 2004, Winnipeg (May 2004).

17. ``Transfer of mercury and other metals in eastern Lake Erie: How does the Round Goby fit in?'', Campbell, L. M., Szabo, R., Greenwood, D., Thacker, R. J., Barton, D., Muir, D. C. G., & Hecky, R. E., poster presentation, Society of Canadian Limnologists Conference, St. John's (January 2004).

16. ``Initial Conditions Revisited'', Thacker R. J., BIRS Workshop, ''Simulating Galaxy Formation: A Herculean Challenge'', Seminar, Banff (November 2003).

15. ``Structure Simulations, Present and Future'', Seminar, Kavli Theoretical Physics Institue, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara (October 2003).

14. ``On the Spatial Correlations of Lyman Break Galaxies'', Thacker, R. J., & Scannapieco, E., poster presentation, Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Waterloo (June 2003).

13. ``HYDRA-MPI: An Adaptive Particle-Particle, Particle-Mesh code for conducting Cosmological Simulations on MPP Architectures'', Thacker R. J., Pringle, G., Couchman, H. M. P. & Booth, S., Computational Astrophysics seminar, High Performance Computing Systems and Applications 2003, Sherbrooke (May 2003).

12. ``Violence in the Dark Ages'', Seminar, Royal Millitary College of Canada, Kingston (April 2003, invited).

11. ``Porting and Optimizing the Cosmological Hydrodynamics code, `HYDRA', to the AlphaServer SC using Alaska MPI2'', Thacker R. J., Couchman, H. M. P., Seminar, HP CAST Meeting, Santa Fe (March 2003).

10. ``Spinning the Cosmic Web'', Seminar, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley (January 2003, invited).

9. ``Beowulfs: The Next Generation'', Discussion Seminar, CITA Computing Workshop, Toronto (April 2002).

8. ``Violence in the Dark Ages: The Impact of Outflows on High-Redshift Galaxies'', Seminar, University of Waterloo (March 2002).

7. ``High Level Parallel Languages'', Discussion Seminar, CITA Computing Workshop, Toronto (May 2001).

6. ``The Angular Momentum Problem in CDM Cosmogony: Half Way There?'', Thacker, R. J., Seminar, Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting (May 2001).

5. ``Local Group Formation'', Sherfesee, D. M., Thacker R. J., & Blitz, L., poster presentation, Victoria Computational Cosmology Conference, Victoria (August 2000).

4. ``Parameterizing Star Formation in Cosmological Simulations'', Thacker R. J., & Couchman H.~M.~P., poster presentation, 13th Kingston Meeting on Astrophysics, Hamilton (October 1998).

3. ``Simulating Galaxy Formation on SMP's'', Thacker R. J., Couchman H. M. P., & Pearce F. R., computational physics seminar, High Performance Computing Systems and Applications 1998, Edmonton (May 1998).

2. ``Simulation of Galaxy Formation'', colloquium, University of Guelph (October 1997, invited).

1. ``Simulations of Galaxy Formation and Clustering'', Thacker R. J., keynote seminar, Canadian Astronomical Society Meeting, Edmonton (June 1997).