Miller MacDonald is a senior undergraduate studying physics and mathematics at Harvard College, where he works to understand the high-energy astrophysical sources of fundamental particles called neutrinos. As a Fulbright Fellow, he will spend the 2026-27 academic year as a guest researcher at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen before beginning his doctoral studies at Harvard University.
MacDonald’s research aims to uncover new properties of both astrophysical sources and neutrinos themselves. He currently works within the IceCube Collaboration, using data collected by the largest telescope on Earth to search for neutrino emission from sources in the Milky Way. In research performed at Harvard University, the Niels Bohr Institute and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he has contributed to an increased understanding of the role astrophysical neutrinos play in uncovering fundamental properties about neutrino masses.
MacDonald’s research has been supported by the Harvard Herchel Smith Undergraduate Research Program and the Yun Family Research Fellows Fund for Revolutionary Thinking. He was the first-ever undergraduate speaker in the SNEWS Seminar Series, where he outlined results from a first-author publication that critically reassessed the role of a novel neutrino source, the diffuse supernova neutrino background, as a tool for uncovering new physics in the neutrino sector.
Born in Santa Cruz, California, and proudly raised in Columbus, Ohio, MacDonald spends his free time caring for the carnivorous plants he grows in his dorm room and traveling the world to see them in their natural habitats. He also enjoys hiking, reading fantasy and science fiction, running along the Charles River, playing the cello, and watching professional cycling.
