Interested in testing current theories in physics and astronomy education research to maximize the learning potential of undergraduate students, Rebecca Grouchy has a background in observational astronomy. Her research focus is in galaxy morphology and evolution via observations and N-body simulations. 

Grouchy is the lead author of papers published in the Astronomical Journal. She has made presentations on her research projects at meetings of the American Astronomical Society, the International Astronomical Union Symposium, the National Meeting of ESO Finnish Scientists and Students and other astronomy symposiums. 

She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Alabama and her bachelor’s degree, also in physics, with a minor in zoology, from Louisiana State University. Grouchy was a visiting astronomer at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in La Serena, Chile, before serving as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oulu in Finland and as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at L’Observatoire de Paris (France).  

She taught at the University of Virginia for the last two academic years as a lecturer and a general faculty member before being promoted to assistant professor for the 2024-25 academic year.