Black holes are the most extreme objects in the Universe: profound distortions of space-time due to the presence of enormous mass in a relatively tiny region of space. These objects are likely to be the drivers, and perhaps the progenitors, of structure evolution throughout the cosmos. Observable only when actively accreting material from their surroundings, black holes can be observed using telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum. Professor Smith uses radio observations from the JVLA and X-ray observations from satellites like NICER, Swift, and Chandra to understand the relationship between the black hole’s mass, spin, and accretion rate and the behavior of accreting matter and plasma in the distorted space around the black hole.