Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University
John Rachlin

Dr. John Rachlin

Associate Teaching Professor · Khoury College of Computer Sciences · Northeastern University

I teach computer and data science at Northeastern, and I build AI-collaborative research pipelines across astronomy, bioinformatics, and evolutionary computing. My current focus is The Variable Zoo Project — an open, small-telescope survey of variable stars developed in continuous partnership with Claude Code.

j.rachlin@northeastern.edu · Office hours on Zoom, by appointment only

Research

Three threads, one method: using AI-driven tools and pipelines to turn raw data — deep-sky images, biological networks, candidate solution populations — into something a scientist can actually reason about.

Astronomy

Variable Stars & the Deep Sky

Photometry pipelines, all-sky catalogs, and interactive tools for exploring variable stars and deep-sky objects — including The Variable Zoo Project.

 Bioinformatics

Biological Knowledge Networks

Interactive exploration and data-extraction tools for genomics, host–parasite ecology, and clinical oncology data.

 Evolutionary Computing

Intelligent Decision-Support

Multi-objective evolutionary algorithms for scheduling, decision-support, and interpretable machine learning.

All Research Projects →

The Variable Zoo Project

Flagship Research Project

An open, small-telescope survey of variable stars

A working demonstration of AI-driven research: deep-sky images are dark-corrected, source-detected, and reduced with ensemble differential photometry, then cross-matched against the AAVSO Variable Star Index to build light curves and observation catalogs across the whole “zoo” of stellar variability. The pipeline, the analysis, and the reports are developed in continuous collaboration with Claude Code, under the direction of the human scientist who runs the telescopes and sets the science.

Visit The Variable Zoo Project →

AI in Teaching & Research

A few of the roles and venues where I've worked on AI in higher education.

2024–25 AI Faculty Fellow, Northeastern Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR)
2025–26 Faculty Chair, Northeastern AI Curriculum Working Group
2025–26 Organizer, Khoury College Teaching Workshop Series — AI in CS Education; CS for All
2025 Digital Education Council, Teaching with AI Working Group

More on AI & Teaching →

Teaching

I teach and develop online courses from my home in Flagstaff, Arizona.



Computer Science

  • CS 1700: Society of Mind: AI for Everyone (Coming Fall 2026)
  • CS 1800: Discrete Structures
  • CS 1802: Recitation for CS 1800
  • CS 3200: Introduction to Databases
  • CS 5002: Discrete Structures
  • CS 5200: Database Systems

Data Science

  • DS 2000: Programming with Data
  • DS 2001: Practicum for DS 2000
  • DS 2500: Intermediate Programming with Data
  • DS 2501: Lab for DS 2500
  • DS 3000: Foundations of Data Science
  • DS 3500: Advanced Programming with Data
  • DS 4300: Large-Scale Storage and Retrieval
  • DS 4400: Machine Learning and Data Mining 1
  • DS 4973: Topics in Data Science — Astronomical Data Mining
  • DS 4992: Directed Study — Collaborative Research Projects
  • DS 5110: Data Management and Processing

Proposed special topics (in development): Scientific Computing · Nature-Inspired Computing · Data Science Applications in Archaeology · Graph Theory and Algorithms