  In this paper we demonstrate how pulsating white dwarfs can be used as an
astrophysical laboratory for empirically constraining convection in these
stars. We do this using a technique for fitting observed non-sinusoidal light
curves, which allows us to recover the thermal response timescale of the
convection zone (its "depth") as well as how this timescale changes as a
function of effective temperature. We also obtain constraints on mode
identifications for the pulsation modes, allowing us to use asteroseismology to
study the interior structure of these stars. Aspects of this approach may have
relevance for other classes of pulsators, including the Cepheids and RR Lyrae
stars.
