tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4396480905143350502024-03-15T01:15:26.807-07:00Astronomy in ColorIn pursuit of social justice, diversity and excellence in astronomyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12573714155007564849noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-25583100127848649572022-03-29T09:13:00.001-07:002022-03-29T09:22:33.235-07:00Introducing the inaugural DPS-NSBP Speaker awardee: Dr. Jasmine Bayron<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY8misWZ5M6KlIyiDL8C7xcjIJF_c6PpdnqofQBOm76fNa76VN4FRN2bGcvKv8sW1fv9Fl_AK61i7EWeqHp-LhZHUfihaYLiyHsU6C9NnpYnFLMmK5hxFQ33c0d9tUKivju6ovIjTcgYZqkCb4y-koM67O3ouoH2eVFoQPiYHme3xCVVPYBtBEeGHK/s1230/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-29%20at%2012.20.29%20PM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1230" data-original-width="1118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY8misWZ5M6KlIyiDL8C7xcjIJF_c6PpdnqofQBOm76fNa76VN4FRN2bGcvKv8sW1fv9Fl_AK61i7EWeqHp-LhZHUfihaYLiyHsU6C9NnpYnFLMmK5hxFQ33c0d9tUKivju6ovIjTcgYZqkCb4y-koM67O3ouoH2eVFoQPiYHme3xCVVPYBtBEeGHK/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-29%20at%2012.20.29%20PM.png"/></a></div><p> <span style="font-family: inherit;">T<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">he American Astronomical Society's (AAS) Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) is thrilled to recognize Dr. Jasmine Bayron, from the American Museum of Natural History and City University of New York. Dr. Bayron is the first awardee from the new Joint Speaker Program established between DPS and the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), Earth and Planetary Systems Sciences (EPSS) section, based on her excellent NSBP 2021 meeting presentation, “Moapa Valley (CM1): The Black Box of the CM Parent Asteroid.” As the Joint DPS-NSBP Program Speaker, Dr. Bayron has been invited to speak at the DPS 2022 meeting, with expenses covered by DPS. She also will be speaking at the Howard University Physics Department Colloquium Series, with support provided by the Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The full AAS press release on Dr. Bayron’s selection can be found at </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dps.aas.org/news/inaugural-dps-nsbp-speaker-awardee-dr-bayron&source=gmail&ust=1648651385695000&usg=AOvVaw2a-SB3lV_JGxGfHKKWEzqY" href="https://dps.aas.org/news/inaugural-dps-nsbp-speaker-awardee-dr-bayron" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://dps.aas.org/news/<wbr></wbr>inaugural-dps-nsbp-speaker-<wbr></wbr>awardee-dr-bayron</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f497d;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">and information about the DPS-NSBP partnership can be found at </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f497d;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dps.aas.org/leadership/nsbp_parnership&source=gmail&ust=1648651385695000&usg=AOvVaw00aiQTtdESLxUPthLtHMaR" href="https://dps.aas.org/leadership/nsbp_parnership" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://dps.aas.org/<wbr></wbr>leadership/nsbp_parnership</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f497d;"> </span></span></p>testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16733016303420249828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-26885182214390265192022-03-17T12:10:00.001-07:002022-03-17T12:10:49.915-07:00Black History Month Star Profiles<p> </p><h4><span style="font-family: verdana;">Happy March y'all! It's no longer the official Black History Month, but Black excellence is the past, present and future. It's ongoing and we want to keep highlighting amazing Black scientists! Today we have Derod Deal!</span></h4><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzLH0jof08hqe-sMWckLPPwG9UGLCTGG8GE6MIeXLNs6YEFMM_AQVc5cPCjU3S_GUjrBSnk2Fxp9vFkrAELZndNYLLHvH2g3SHmzaLsyiLOcYkQZRR2VWqNW0PovBj1QNfd3rcd_lbZZVnDiUYpNkssoWZ5RlEAwWDOikppTn8j7jrnPVKtr75OYml=s594" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="446" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzLH0jof08hqe-sMWckLPPwG9UGLCTGG8GE6MIeXLNs6YEFMM_AQVc5cPCjU3S_GUjrBSnk2Fxp9vFkrAELZndNYLLHvH2g3SHmzaLsyiLOcYkQZRR2VWqNW0PovBj1QNfd3rcd_lbZZVnDiUYpNkssoWZ5RlEAwWDOikppTn8j7jrnPVKtr75OYml=s320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Derod Deal (he/him), McNair Scholar and University of Florida '23<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-9357602a-7fff-044b-7758-357bd6058bfd"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. To start things off, can you say your name, and your pronouns, and then tell me a little bit about yourself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Hi, my name's Derod Deal, and my pronouns are he and him. I'm from south Florida - Hollywood, Florida, Miami area, basically. And the research I've been doing is stellar information with masers. I've been trying to use masers to trace star formation processes disc out flows in the W51 star formation region. I'm doing the research at the University of Florida, and for the majority of my research, I’ve actually been doing it online since I'm not able to go on UF's campus right now. I'm in a stage of doing more research because there's a lot of things that need to be done. Right now, I'm trying to write up a paper based on what I have so far, but the research is technically ongoing as I have to make different SEDs of the different regions I'm looking at. So, it's kind of doing two things at once.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfkpJcDBYC_bI6c-g1CFVmJZb9ryl9BtoPDmlOD6gWrABCYOStpTXzLqtZwAY6lL_ayu5R8lOc_Tq7LGhj7DP_5YiaoqVXT4c-xT_QaUfKrL2CzG9DdTfuS3EFWVnQEEKp-b1usy79eaMr9UrMYCcjX3n2pfSgh_tcsLqUCSU4ajocnI9yb5RmuKw1=s320" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfkpJcDBYC_bI6c-g1CFVmJZb9ryl9BtoPDmlOD6gWrABCYOStpTXzLqtZwAY6lL_ayu5R8lOc_Tq7LGhj7DP_5YiaoqVXT4c-xT_QaUfKrL2CzG9DdTfuS3EFWVnQEEKp-b1usy79eaMr9UrMYCcjX3n2pfSgh_tcsLqUCSU4ajocnI9yb5RmuKw1" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of some of Derod's research<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thanks for sharing that info about where you’re currently at! What inspired you to pursue a career in astronomy or just science in general?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So that's a good question about what inspiration I had in general.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hm... I mean, when I was a kid, I used to watch the Science Channel a lot, and I really liked looking at the Weather Channel. So I was fairly fascinated by the different scientific instruments that you use to measure different properties of the weather, like the temperature pressure, the wind speed, and such with the anemometer.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I decided to just build a weather station from scratch using household materials: pencils, maybe bottle caps for the anemometer. And over time, I never let that fascination go.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I guess, as I grew up, I did different things. I tried to use the Arduino - the market controller - to kind of automate some processes and sensors like using the DHT 11 temperature sensor. And I even made my own rain gauge. I had to make a CAD design of the instrument first and then 3d print those instruments out when I was in high school.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then I used a Reed sensor and a magnet to dictate whenever the water flows down. The rain gauge is like a bucket that tips as rain fills it. So every time it tips, it trips the Reed sensor and then you can calculate how many times per second, or how many times in a set amount of time the bucket would tip and then you can calculate the total rain gauge from that.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I like using different techniques to explore different phenomena. So that kinda pushed me towards science in general. Also, I have to say that my mom really pushed me to keep going and persevere in my field no matter what. You know, I really love her for that.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I have to give it up to the Science Channel. It kind of inspired me to do several things. And also, I guess some people on YouTube as I've watched different tech projects that people do, as a kid and now.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was one person - I'm not too sure what the dude's name is - but they had got a laser and a solar panel. And what you can do is use the reflected laser light off an object and use a solar panel. When the reflected laser hits this solar panel you can record the audio from whatever the vibrations from the object it reflected off of.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you can use it to spy on people. I didn't really spy on people, but I used it just to have I thought it was really cool to have sound play out of the solar panel from the vibrations of the object to the laser. And I thought it was really awesome. I just like different projects.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, building things and using them to prove physical concepts is really engaging and so interesting. You have all these different projects that you did, like when you were first talking about the weather station, and I was initially surprised that you didn’t want to do meteorology, and now you're talking about lasers and solar panels and I thought maybe engineering as well would’ve been a path you’d have chosen.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, yeah, that is so cool. Just - kind of your love of building things came before, a love of a particular sort of phenomenon or field. In your opinion then, what makes astronomy so unique and compelling? Because you talked about all these different fields, how did you come to astronomy?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> When I was a kid, I think the beginning was when I went to NASA’s website, and I looked at all the different planets. I'm not completely sure how it came about, but I had some kind of interest in space when I was a kid.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So my fifth grade teacher - his name is Mr. Reyes, he was at Goulds elementary - he gave me a book called </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stars and Planets</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I think I still have it here… Okay. It's on my bookshelf somewhere. I have to look for it, but it's called </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stars and Planets</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by the Smithsonian. It’s a handbook of the different constellations you could find. And also, it’s basically a guide of all the different planets, how they formed, the different chemical compositions of the planets, a review of how stars form, and more.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I really enjoyed that book and the fact that he gave it to me, and he wrote a note saying “I wish you your best Derod at becoming an astronaut.” Hahaha I guess at that time I wanted to be an astronaut. I don't remember. I don't recall, but I really do like the fact that he gave me that book, and I guess that really pushed me [towards astronomy] as well.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That's so awesome that he saw your interest and gave you that little push! Along your academic journey since those early beginnings, is there anything you're particularly proud of that you'd like to share? It also could be along your personal journey as well of course.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, for sure. I think one of the things I'm the proudest of was something I did in high school. So my physics teacher in high school (I went to South Broward High School) his name was Mr. Herrera. And basically, he had different science projects for different parts of the physics classes he teaches for physics honors.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And he was looking for a project for electricity and magnetism. At the same time when he was looking for that, I was doing SECME [SouthEastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering], and two other students and I were building different generators to pass the SECME competition, and basically I think we had some kind of agreement that I could use my SECME generator to show other students how to build generators.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I made the draft and everything per the guidelines for the SECME competition. Now I even made a little video of a YouTube video of certain aspects of building an electrical generator. This was a water generator where you put water down a hydro-electric generator. I made a YouTube video about that, explaining some of the things about building it. But basically what I'm trying to say is the other students in the class were able to build all kinds of the different generators by themselves using the generator I built for SECME as a guideline. Even though I was working with two other students, I was the one who pushed actually building a generator for the competition, and I designed it essentially. And all of the other students in the physics class were able to design their own generators because of my design.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3Xrmqhp3nhPCNALhtKo6h4uahgVIBxmSVrbohK_V0F0uindijV9LUvgT5p8L3uUciYgHMfMHg9fH1tR8dJ4IkwSa57fYCYfMUu4OrnqqA7hh1AQVPnEKp5FrfOJMUB4wxaiBSL65Hw2pM5rpErRsHaeMiNMjDPGERIIF2cO7B9-nlQ2J_24sRIv1P=s320" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3Xrmqhp3nhPCNALhtKo6h4uahgVIBxmSVrbohK_V0F0uindijV9LUvgT5p8L3uUciYgHMfMHg9fH1tR8dJ4IkwSa57fYCYfMUu4OrnqqA7hh1AQVPnEKp5FrfOJMUB4wxaiBSL65Hw2pM5rpErRsHaeMiNMjDPGERIIF2cO7B9-nlQ2J_24sRIv1P" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The generators made by the physics honors class</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That’s incredible that the whole class was able to build generators based on your work! You were kind of the teacher.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Well, I didn't really teach it. Mr. Herrera teaches it, he's an awesome teacher. I just basically built the generator and I guess inspired other students to do it so, but Mr. Herrera was the one who actually had to teach the concepts to them. I went to his class sometimes during my lunch period to show them how to do it and how to build the generators. It was amazing, an amazing experience. And I kind of used that as an opportunity to do the, I think it was the county's environmental science and environmental stewardship competition [Florida Envirothon].</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't know the exact name for it, but I used that experience to apply there, and I won first place. So yeah, I don't usually go to the different competitions, and you know, win first place, so that's one thing I really liked doing, especially since everyone else was able to build the generator because of me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Congratulations! So, you were able to use this experience of mentorship as an informal way to win this environmental competition - was that as an environmental and computer science or…?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It was not strictly environmental science for the competition. I think different students had to showcase their impact and skill with tackling environmental science issues in general. So it could be about anything in terms of environmental science. So if the project infuses different things tied with physics then that also counts as well.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, yeah, yeah, that totally makes sense. So you said your generator in particular was a water generator, but how it could be other kinds of generators like the kids in the other class built, and I could see how that would tie into the environmental aspect of that competition. That's awesome. So you've already mentioned Mr. Herrera and Mr. Reyes - are there any other mentors or teachers or role models that have been really inspiring to you in your life?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Other role models… To be honest, other than my parents and some of the teachers, my research mentor right now, his name is Dr. Adam Ginsburg. He’s a pretty big inspiration to me because of the fact that he's just showing me all these different tools and different things to do research that I never thought of before. And right now I'm really thankful for that, because now I can say, ‘Okay, I have these building blocks and I have different tools and there’s not so many different ways I can build different things with them.’</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He's also encouraging me to keep pushing forward, even during these tough times, even if I'm not having such a good day sometimes. And he's really encouraging in a personal aspect too. So he's definitely a role model for me as well.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And also… I would say Dr. Hakim Oluseyi. Remember before I said I would watch the Science Channel a lot. He used to appear on there a lot of times for different things, “Outrageous Acts of Science '', which I think I'd binge watched at one point. And I think “The Wonders of Astronomy '' was another show on the Science Channel. In retrospect, I think now he's a really big influence too, just because he's really good at STEM advocacy, and in the future I want to also push that area and stress it a lot. I want to learn how to communicate science to others, especially those who don’t really know much about science or who haven't been in the field too much, the general public, and also I want to really bring STEM passion to more Black communities in every city. So I definitely want to do that too.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I also recently talked to him, about… two days ago! And I'd never thought I would actually talk to him, someone that's as high in stature as Dr. Hakeem. And it was like, wow, okay. What am I doing here? How did I get to this point of talking to him, even though I'm still an undergraduate.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And to be honest, I feel I haven't done, you know, that big of a thing. I'm not there yet, but I just, the opportunity to talk to him is an inspiration for me. One of the things he said is ‘don't care.’ It's a don’t not care attitude. Just get your work done, no matter what background you've had, just do what matters most. If you just keep going and get the things that you want done, you get to compete and inspire people. So that's kind of what I got from that conversation. And that's how he's one of the big inspirations for me as well…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Totally, Dr. Oluseyi is so charismatic and generous with his time for younger scientists! Thanks for sharing these inspirations and role models -</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Oh yeah! Oh, sorry, there’s one more teacher. I want to highlight back in high school, his name was Mr. Hagerty at South Broward high school as well. He’s a really big inspiration for me from the more effective engineering side. Mr. Hagerty and Mr. Kelly too, they’re I guess on more of the engineering side of my inspiration. Mr. Hagerty was the marine and green education teacher, but he had a really big emphasis on engineering. For example, he made a hydroponic system with the class at the school. And that's really inspirational because I really do like building things. This whole hydroponic system runs on solar panels, that's pretty cool.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That is so cool that you had had a class that was about marine education, but that also showed the practical side of, you know, how we interface with that marine environment and how to do it in a sustainable and ecofriendly way.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yes, that was amazing. And I also like how I had all these different experiences. No matter what field of science it is - and it doesn't even have to be in science either, it can be engineering for example - you can carve your own path and do research based on what you already knew. Since I dabbled a little bit in marine science and engineering with hydroponic systems and everything, maybe I could bring some of that technical skill over to building scientific instruments in astrophysics (even though that's not what I'm doing now, what I'm doing is I'm more of an observer and researcher). Just, just those different science avenues, you can apply to so many different things, even my research when you're just observing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah exactly, building these hydroponic systems or these generators or the weather systems you've built in the past can inform how you would build instruments for astrophysical research in the future, since they use a lot of the same principles.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cool! So you mentioned some of these teachers and these role models for you have this kind of mindset pushing through the struggle or who encourage you to keep going you - what are some challenges and obstacles that you've faced so far in your career and how have you overcome these challenges?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Okay. So I can answer that. I guess the most recent one is the one, you know, with the pandemic and everything. I feel that was really a big struggle for me as I struggled to really adapt online and try to basically do the same thing I was doing back at college on campus, online.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So it was hard to study. It was hard to motivate myself and everything, but I had to find different ways to continue. And I pushed through my main major, after finding little things to help: maybe playing a game to get my mind off things or getting a huge study group together. Or maybe just with a few people and just study the whole night, because I feel one of the biggest challenges for me is in terms of the pandemic and studying online is I feel I have to learn how to study all over again.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s a huge challenge for me that I tried to overcome with different techniques. And I did, right now I passed those classes that I had done. And now I have to do the rest of my classes even though I haven't been back to campus since the beginning of the pandemic. Even though the other students have been there, I'm still trying to deal with learning online and everything.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So it’s an ongoing process. And on top of that I have a medical situation at home I also have to focus on, and that brings different stressors and everything. So I really have to kind of balance the family life, medical emergencies that come up pretty commonly, more commonly than I expected.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It also interferes with my academic work. For example, this semester, my plans were to go back to campus. But now I have to take a half course load - I had to take six credits online again, when I'm supposed to be doing more of my physics coursework and everything.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that. I think it's definitely been hard for everyone in different ways, and balancing your obligations at home to your obligations at school is definitely really, really tricky compared to what your classmates on campus might’ve had to deal with. I don't think any of us really know the correct answer to how to do that balance.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So from these kinds of challenges that you've undergone and are successfully working your way through, what advice would you give to high school students and other younger undergraduate students of color who are interested in following in your path?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Okay. I guess the advice I have, I'm going to look straight into the camera for this [he adjusts to look straight into the Zoom camera].</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know it's really cliche, but it's a theme that kind of resonated with me: Don't give up on your dreams. You just got to figure out a way, how to push through it. If you have to go the long way in life, go the long way. And it's okay. Maybe sometimes, if you have too much on your plate, it's okay to take a break and relax for a little bit, you know. But if it's something that you really want to do and you know that you want it, you have to pursue it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't put yourself down. Don't let other people put you down. Don't let other people be obstacles to you. Don't let any type of obstacles keep you in one place, figure out a way how to get around them.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, when there's always a way! That's really good advice. So you've kind of touched on this already, but what are your future and long-term career goals? You've touched on wanting to do work that is similar to Dr. Oluseyi's, where you're doing outreach, but what does that look like for you?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So right now my main goal is to go to graduate school and pursue research. I want to continue the research I'm doing right now. I feel there's a lot of different pathways I can go to in terms of outreach, and to be honest, I don't know exactly what I want to do in terms of outreach.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeah I guess my main goal, I'm just set on going to grad school. ‘Cause that's such a big challenge to overcome in general already, but I guess maybe in the future, I want to… I don't know what exactly, but maybe start my own business based on science and astrophysics.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe a YouTube thing on the side. I want to put what I know back into the community that, you know, that has raised me essentially. So I want to do that for sure. Yeah. Other career goals aside for those two? Hmm. I guess that's really it. I want to go to grad school, pursue a PhD, and I want to do community outreach somehow in relation to what I did so far in astrophysics and STEM in the STEM community.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Those are both really great goals. You don't need anything more specific right now, you have time to work out the details of what you want to do.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> For sure.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Last couple of questions… Is there anything in particular you would like to see change in the astronomy community?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I definitely want to see more Black physicists and astrophysicists, and in the STEM community I want to see more people of color as well. I feel in general, the heavy hitters in STEM you see are not really a lot of Black people. And as far as the STEM workforce goes (professors and researchers and everything) I think maybe there's, I don't know, maybe 12 Black astrophysicists?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, if you're just thinking of the people who are visible, it's very small numbers.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, for sure. And I think , literally, if you would look at the amount of Black PhDs in astrophysicists there's not a lot more than that at all. Just maybe in the double digits, 20 to 30. That's what I'm thinking. Right, so there's definitely a lot of work to be done there. I wanted to see more Black physicists, more Black astrophysicists. And I don’t want to just see it, I wanna help move towards that change.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> You're numbers are probably close. I think, at least for astrophysics in general, there’s a listing of Black astrophysicists online and there's maybe 50 of us. And not all of us are PhD students, you know? Some are faculty and postdocs and undergrads too. The numbers are low.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It is. And the sad part I guess, is that I think astrophysics is more diverse [than related fields].</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah exactly. Astro has done work to increase diversity – more than physics for example – and it’s still bad.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So finally, what does Black history month mean to you as a Black scientist?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Black history month, I think it's a really good way to showcase all of the different work we've done so far. We've done a lot of work in this country, and we want to be able to showcase it, you know, so Black history month is where we’re able to showcase all the different things we have done and created so far. And in terms of physics and STEM, even if our numbers are low, we contributed so much. We’ve had a big impact on the fields already. We are the inventors, engineers, everyone. So yeah, that's what it means to me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thank you so much! Is there anything else that you would like to share?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derod:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I guess I can leave on one note.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have a passion, go for it and stick to it. And it's okay if it doesn't seem like the passion is for you, you could change your path and figure out what's best for you. You have to venture out and see what you like and experiment with what you like. So try different things out and if it works, if you really like it, stick to it.</span></p></span>Erin Flowershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13654710195216527007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-63840043917190536432022-02-28T11:19:00.000-08:002022-02-28T11:19:23.034-08:00Black History Month Star Profiles<p> </p><h4><span style="font-family: verdana;">Happy Black History Month! We know we've come to the end of February, but Black excellence is to be celebrated every day of the year. We'll post our remaining interviews and more in the coming weeks. Next up: Caleb Levy!</span></h4><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxjt4ogA_9tpoyXOeG8_L7RO7ZosucbZ3_1EYC9jrdEg5y67pLPGhjCy2cURNqB-c_KEgsWUKcWYGNR6wcTO5I4C_2VhFoqgpkax-tOCZkrMlo5fshfsia0HFDiejWWC05KrKX_WiWrULV7hFc2q3IIl25Br0HQ7YuluRlI7c6vIKmFjEXL3uR2Y9s=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="565" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxjt4ogA_9tpoyXOeG8_L7RO7ZosucbZ3_1EYC9jrdEg5y67pLPGhjCy2cURNqB-c_KEgsWUKcWYGNR6wcTO5I4C_2VhFoqgpkax-tOCZkrMlo5fshfsia0HFDiejWWC05KrKX_WiWrULV7hFc2q3IIl25Br0HQ7YuluRlI7c6vIKmFjEXL3uR2Y9s=w425-h565" width="425" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caleb Levy (he/him), Colgate University '23 </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span><a name='more'></a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-02747834-7fff-73a9-9a25-e4a3db745ee0"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Okay. Great. Thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview! Please introduce yourself with your name, your pronouns and your major and where you're at.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Sure. Yeah. So, my name's Caleb Levy. My pronouns are he/him/his. I'm majoring in physics and minoring in math at Colgate University. I'm originally from Kingston, Jamaica, so I'm an international student. I left Jamaica when I came to Colgate, so pretty recently.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Awesome. And what is your elevator pitch of your research focus?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So at Colgate, my research has centered on constraining dark matter properties through possible future observations of different astrophysical objects. Specifically, starting my freshman summer to junior fall, I primarily focused on using the hypothetical Population III stars, which we haven't found yet, but how those could be potentially used to detect dark matter through mechanisms of dark matter capture and annihilation and then subsequent annihilation in those objects.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also worked with my advisor here, Professor Cosmin Ilie, on extending the formalism for capture of dark matter in astrophysical objects so that we could account for scattering with multiple nuclear species. So before it was limited to capture just from the most dominant element inside the objects, but we work to make that more general.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> All right, thanks for that intro and explanation of your research. Science talk: done! This is really an interview to get to know you and your journey. To start off - what inspired you to pursue a career in astronomy or science in general?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah. So I initially wanted to be a pilot growing up, that was kind of my trajectory. So when I was choosing my subjects in high school, I was kind of picking it along those lines. For some reason, I think a lot of people were recommending geography, and of course physics. So that's when I first kind of got introduced to physics academically, and I always had an interest in these general pop science ideas I got from media. I didn't read any books before high school on astronomy though, so I kind of just had a very vague interest in that. I started taking physics my first two years. I was actually just okay. I was a pretty average physics student, but then the dream, the pilot dream kind of fell through ‘cause it's really expensive. And so it just, it wasn't a feasible thing. So I kind of focused my efforts on physics in my last two years of high school. And once I started actively trying in it, I found that I, you know, I did well in it. I kind of said, ‘Okay, yeah, probably. Yeah, this is what I want to do.’ From that point on, in my last couple of years of high school, that's when I started reading a lot of pop physics books: Neil deGrasse Tyson, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Brief History of Time</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, that kind of stuff. I was like ‘You know, this is cool. This is what I want to do.’</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So, in your opinion, what about those books and what about astronomy was so unique and compelling?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It still to this day kind of blows my mind how much we are able to infer just by looking and thinking. I think that just general idea of looking at a little speck in the sky and creating a whole framework to explain it is great.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I mean, obviously it's not perfect, not yet. But explaining all that stuff, I just found really appealing. I'm really interested in cosmology as well at this point. And I kind of see myself heading in a direction of theoretical physics, but toward more cosmology and how that interfaces with particle physics.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That makes a lot of sense when you're talking especially about the Population III stars, early universe conditions, and how observations of those could lead to a better understanding of dark matter. You start with a simple observation and get a lot of info in theory, which is really compelling. This next question, it can be related to your research or just in general, is there anything that you are particularly proud of that you'd like to share?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Sure. Yeah, I think at this point, I kind of have two proudest achievements. The first was being a coauthor on a paper that was published. I mean, when I came in as a freshman, I was pretty dead-set on the physics track in terms of research, so I tried very hard to get opportunities early on. But it [publishing] was something that I never thought would happen at that point. And it's really put me in a good position in terms of thinking about grad school.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So yeah, I'm really, really proud of that. And the other thing is I presented at the National Society of Black Physicists Conference in November this past year. I presented the research I've been doing with Professor Ilie about extending the formalism, and I ended up getting a prize for the best oral undergraduate presentation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Congratulations!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thanks, yeah I wasn't expecting it because I gave that talk a few times ‘cause of school. All the other times, it was during the summer and I had so much time to prepare, but this one was during school and I did not prepare that much. I managed to get through though.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I guess you had really good muscle memory then from having given this presentation before. That's awesome. Those are both excellent, excellent achievements. You mentioned grad school a little bit, what are your long-term career goals, you know, what are the next steps?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I want to pursue a PhD, definitely in the theory realm. Probably theoretical cosmology/particle theory. And then after that, you know, the long long-term goal is to end up at a university and teach and do research. And if not that specifically, I think research is kind of my main focus.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So if I end up somewhere where I'm doing research and not teaching, that would be fine, but I do enjoy teaching, so that would be a nice complement.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That’s great! Speaking of teaching, what mentors, teachers, or role models have been the most inspiring to you in your life?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I think the first, real physics mentor that I had was in high school. In my last few years of high school, I had a really amazing physics teacher who would take the time out to listen to me and allow me to go through my convoluted thoughts about things and let me make it make sense in my head.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So he was probably the first main one. And since I've come to Colgate, definitely my research advisor has been really instrumental in my success. And another person that I really look up to as a physicist is Stephon Alexander.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> He just gave a colloquium virtually for us on Tuesday, he's phenomenal.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah! So I'm sure you probably know he has a book called </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Jazz of Physics. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so I actually started listening to jazz when I got to Colgate. One of my intro seminar courses was a jazz course. I got really into it. And then I found this book and I was like ‘This is right up my alley.’ And the type of research that he's doing is almost exactly what I want for myself. So he really embodies a lot of how I want to do physics.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Are you thinking of applying to Brown to work with him as a grad student?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah. I mean, I probably will and I'll probably reach out to him at some point. I actually spoke to a current grad student of his who is a Colgate alum. So I reached out to her and yeah, that's definitely on my radar.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That's cool, I hope you two get to work together. Let’s see, next question… What challenges and obstacles have you faced in your career and how have you overcome these challenges?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I think probably the biggest obstacle throughout my life has been financial stability. When I grew up in Jamaica, technically I grew up middle-class, but it wasn't necessarily the most stable. We kind of lived paycheck to paycheck. And even though it's middle-class in Jamaica, by American standards, it's very different. So even wanting to pursue physics and go abroad to do that, the only way that was ever going to happen was if I managed to snag a full ride. I managed to almost virtually do that and that has been a huge thing, but even, you know, being here, even though most of my tuition is paid, it's hard living on student wages and all of that. And it's an interesting dynamic, I will say, being at this school which is very, very wealthy. So dealing with that culture shock, I guess, coming from Jamaica, I'd say that's probably the main thing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So with these experiences, what advice would you give to high school and undergraduate students of color following in your path who might be coming from a similar place?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I think my main, my main piece of advice would be ‘Don't stress.’ I think it's don't stress too much about details academically, especially if you're in some kind of research position. You’re going to have to learn as you go. I think, that was one of the biggest lessons I've learned from my research because I stepped in right off of freshman year reading papers. I wanted to understand every single detail in the paper, but you just can't do that and get anywhere if you're trying to do so. My biggest piece of advice would be to just throw yourself in and don't worry too much about understanding every detail because it will come on with time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That’s great advice, definitely something I think a lot of us don’t realize when we’re starting out. Thinking about the field as a whole, is there anything that you would like to see change in the astronomy community? Or the cosmology community, which I know is kind of at the interface between astronomy and physics?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I think generally more representation. One of the biggest things that I've noticed, I guess this is more to do with physics in general (but of course that's a necessary for astronomy), is as a tutor here I've seen the impact of a disproportionate levels of preparation [between minority and non-minority students] and how that affects students' performance in intro courses and their motivation, or whether or not they actually continue with a physics major. There are some initiatives that we have at Colgate that started right after my freshman year that I'm a part of, that are really trying to improve retention [of students of color]. So that's kind of the main thing that I would like to see.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So seeing that representation yourself, and as a tutor being that representation, you’ve seen how having more people of color helping with these younger students improves the retention. Yeah, that totally makes sense.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, yeah exactly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So yeah, here at the end, what does Black History Month mean to you as a student of color who is doing science?</span></p><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caleb:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It's great, I mean… It's interesting because, you know, this is the first time I've been in a place where I am mostly surrounded by just white people, I'm just being frank. Celebrating Black excellence back home is a standard thing for me. Growing up, that was always something that I internalized. We have seven national heroes, and maybe one of them is white. So I'm happy that people are actively trying to celebrate this and bring this into people's consciousness here. It means a lot.</span></span></div><br /><br /></span></div>Erin Flowershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13654710195216527007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-41303822711344079482022-02-21T13:50:00.021-08:002022-02-21T14:20:27.272-08:00Black History Month Star Profiles<h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Happy Black History Month! As we celebrate Black ancestors, leaders, creators, teachers, and scientists who are our bedrock and inspiration, we also want to uplift the brilliant members of our astrophysics community who are our Black Present and Black Future. We'll be posting interviews over the next couple of weeks of several scientists, talking about their work, what inspired them to pursue science, and what Black History Month means to them. First up: Kiersten Boley.</span></h4><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGlmAsRHtXgj0ivqyQjO7b65zW2stfZcexbamzB1n-2jhUYBhP704bHI6-xBc3qP3B_26hLEFCSi_zB6rKoccgaV7nav5nb_YoCuyN7tZxs4ln8Wqde6EVsxYVQxaxCyTan3zc3K07l1W20O39fDFx-A-1Ju99nuA0Qepdv125FvrBtfj7TQFhjco9=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="2048" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGlmAsRHtXgj0ivqyQjO7b65zW2stfZcexbamzB1n-2jhUYBhP704bHI6-xBc3qP3B_26hLEFCSi_zB6rKoccgaV7nav5nb_YoCuyN7tZxs4ln8Wqde6EVsxYVQxaxCyTan3zc3K07l1W20O39fDFx-A-1Ju99nuA0Qepdv125FvrBtfj7TQFhjco9=w419-h279" width="419" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kiersten Boley (she/her), OSU PhD Candidate, NSF Graduate Research Fellow</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-05aefc22-7fff-ae27-6b25-4856eac7b710"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thank you again so much for agreeing to do this. To get started, could you please tell me more about yourself, and start with your name, your pronouns, and where you're currently at school.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I’m Kiersten Boley, my pronouns are she/her, and I'm in grad school at OSU, but I'm currently doing a fellowship at IPAC, which is pretty fun, I'm getting the sunny weather. I guess in terms of my background, I grew up in an interracial home. So I'm half black, half white, my mom's black, my dad's white. And, we grew up like really poor, broke, you know, those food stamps were great. And neither of my parents had been to a college before at all: my dad, he didn't even finish high school and my mom, while we were growing up, she got a certificate to work in a pharmacy, but then once me and my older brother went to college, she actually went to college and she graduated with her degree in biology. So we're super proud of her for that. But yeah that's a little bit about my background.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So given this background, what inspired you to pursue a career in astronomy or science in general?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So I would attribute that to my mom. She is just super critical thinking, but also she's really good at problem solving. And we just grew up in this environment where if something was broke, you had to figure out how to fix it and how to solve whatever problem you have. You didn't really have the option, right. You had to figure it out. Otherwise you're not going to get X, Y, or Z. I always thought it was fun. And some of my favorite memories growing up were just this having to solve some sort of issue or problem. And it was always actually really fun. Like I remember this one summer where our car got repoed and you know, my mom, she was working so hard and she was working at Walmart at that time. So me and my brother - I was in middle school and my brother was in high school - I just remember us like riding our bikes to town, like in the summer rain, and then having, you know, having to figure out all of these logistical things while my mom was working. I think that basically, I just grew up problem solving and I really enjoyed it. And in terms of astronomy, I kind of stumbled into astronomy. I remember taking a geology class when I was getting my Associate’s and I really enjoyed geology. And then I ended up taking some physics class, and I absolutely was just drawn by a General Relativity. Eventually I got an internship with this super awesome person at Lawrence Livermore, that was my first astronomy internship, and he was so awesome. He told me about how great the field was, but also I would just really enjoy what I was doing as well. His name is William Dawson and he's still there. He's still great. But, yeah, so I think all of those things combined was kind of what took me to astronomy and then, you know, liking rocks and also liking space is kind of what put me into the exoplanet subfield.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That's interesting how you had this class that wasn't even necessarily about astronomy, but you were interested in astronomy concepts and then an internship led to your current research. That's really cool! Can you tell me about what you’re currently working on?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So what I do generally is I work on how elemental abundances can tell us about planet formation and the evolution of the planet. And so I've got two different branches that I do. I look at the statistics of planet occurrence rates. So how many planets form around certain types of stars, et cetera. Then I also am going to have this kind of theory portion of it, where we're looking at how the compositions change your planet. Those are two routes that I'm super excited about. I also love planet interiors, so I definitely want to travel down that path much more. Um, but they all tie in together. You need high-level statistics to try and figure out these trends in order to inform your models.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Absolutely. So are you working with Kepler data and TESS data? Or is it like just all of the exoplanet detections, like kind of pulling that whole database?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I'm just doing TESS data right now. I think Kepler data would be interesting. I've talked to - I don't know if you're familiar with Jessie Christiansen -</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I don't know her personally, but I know her work.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, so I'm working with her right now. And we've kind of talked with one of her post-docs about doing something that looks at TESS and Kepler, but just right now TESS and maybe in the future, other things, which I imagine I'll have to, at some point, right.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I guess since you're working mostly with TESS data, then is this your interest in looking at smaller planets?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I am most interested in smaller planets, however, I currently work with larger planets since they are just easier to look at. So of course you can't just ignore those guys. My last paper was specifically on hot Jupiters, but I feel like most people are interested in these smaller planets </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, absolutely. Those are the ones that are exciting! So in your opinion then, what qualities make astronomy so unique and compelling?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I think that there’re a couple of different aspects. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like most people wonder about the universe. And you think about all of these crazy things, and then you think about how small you are. And for me, That is one of the most compelling things just to understand the universe and just to know about, like, even a tiny portion of it is just really awesome. Earth is cool and you know, that's fine, but *laughter*</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA: </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Laughter* I completely understand. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Would you share anything that you're particularly proud of? For example, something that's happened along your academic or personal trajectory?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah. So I would say, um, I'm actually just proud that I made it through undergrad and I know that that doesn't sound like a huge thing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That is an accomplishment!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> To give some context: I got my Associate’s in physics and then I transferred to Georgia tech. So I was living in Atlanta and just to get by, I had scholarships for tuition, but I just remember like the first year there I was working 40 hours a week at this restaurant. It was well paying, I guess, 'cause it was like a fancy restaurant, but in order to pay for my living expenses I had to work 40 hours a week, and then I also was taking classes full time. And then on top of that, I was trying to get this other scholarship that was a ROTC scholarship. So I was getting home from work at like one in the morning, and then waking up at five to get to all of this stuff. So I just remember not sleeping and just making it through that, but once I got that scholarship, everything kind of lightened up a little bit.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm really proud that I stuck with it and I made it through.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That’s so impressive that you had to work this full-time job, and then you're doing ROTC. It sounds like no sleep and then no time to at least sit down and, you know, do assignments and like go to class, like how? Did you sleep at all during undergrad?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> *Laughter* I think I was averaging like four hours of sleep, but I would not do it again. And I don't even know how I did it to begin with the thought of doing that now. I'm like, nah, I would just quit!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I’m already tired from just an average 6 – 8 hrs of sleep, I can’t imagine doing that intense schedule. That's incredibly impressive and that is absolutely something to be proud of! Oh man, you are starting off so strong as our first interviewee. I’m sure our others will also be just as amazing, but - </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> *Laughter* I know, there's so many impressive people in the field, like, Caprice Phillips she's just like, I love her so much. And she's like my role model and she's always feeding me things like, ‘oh, you should apply for this’. There's such a great community of us who are supporting each other and trying to get us to the next step and, you know, help each other out to where we're at.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It’s so so great. Caprice Phillips is definitely one of those absolutely amazing role models. I see what she does, and I'm just like, if I could be like half as cool that would be awesome.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I know. I tell her that all the time I'm like, my goal is to be you.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Exactly. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking of role models and helping others in our community, what advice would you give to high school and undergrad students of color interested in following your path?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I think I would say that there's so many different things that you can face. And I'm super privileged in the sense that like I don't present as Black and I now recognize this. People will guess that I'm mixed, but I don't present as Black. But I do present as other than white. So I understand it’s hard to see no one around you, and no one doing the same things that looks like you. So I think finding those like counter-spaces, those people that you can talk to and latch onto is really important.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know when I was going through undergrad, there was like one Black person in the cohort. And then the majority of the people in physics were white, but I had a group of friends that were doing engineering and stuff. And since we had to do some of the same core classes, that's when I met them and I kind of latched on to them. And although they weren't exactly like me, they were people of color. And so that, that really helped make me feel like I wasn't the only one.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then I think that being patient with yourself is important. If you come from a lower income background, you're already at a disadvantage. And especially if you're first generation as well, which a lot of people of color are, they're coming from these backgrounds. And so I would say to be patient with yourself because you don't have the resources that other people do, resources other people don’t even realize they have. Like my husband, his mom had a degree in English, so she would read over his papers and you know, all of this other stuff about just navigating this academic space. I think that looking out for resources, just Googling as much as you can and talking to people and seeing what's out there is really important just to figure out what you don't know. I don't want it to be discouraging, but just know that even if you are coming from a more disadvantaged background, you are just as good as your peers. You’re just having to start a couple of steps back and work your way up, which is totally valid. And you're still competent and you're still good. And you can still do these things.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Like, you're starting, you're like racing against people who start at like 2</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">nd</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or 3</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">rd</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> base, who might have had the resources of parents who went to college or University connections or, you know, have these resources in life they didn't have to look for themselves.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you’ve come all this way, what are your future career goals?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So I think that mine are pretty simple. I just want to enjoy doing what I'm doing, so I want to continue doing research ‘cause that's just what I love. Whether that means being a faculty member or a scientist at a national lab or something like that, these are the things that I would really love to do.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'd also really like to make sure whatever my future role is, that I have the opportunity to do a lot of diversity and equity work, because that's also super fulfilling. I've already done a lot of stuff. For example, I did a lot of work with Jumpstart. I worked with them for four years, and it was so great. Or if I ever get rich enough, which you know, probably won't happen, but I would love to start some sort of foundation for people of color and low-income people from low-income families providing resources for them to do STEM. I know money is really important for these things, and just at least taking that burden off of people that are just trying to make it through doesn't exactly level the playing field, but it makes it a little bit less unfair.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That’s wonderful, thank you for sharing. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last couple of questions: is there anything you would like to see change in the astronomy community?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I would say that I'd like to see more diversity. And I'd like to see people more invested in DEI work. I think that there's been a strong push, but there's definitely still some holes. I don't think that people realize how important it is - it's just really impactful to see people doing the work and to see a more diverse community. I remember going to SACNAS and NSBP. The first time I went to SACNAS, I was getting emotional because I didn't realize that that was something that I even needed or wanted: to see people like me – like, a whole bunch of people, not just one person - doing science and doing really cool things. And then NSBP, that was the kindest conference that I have ever been to, and I feel like it's so important and so impactful for people to see people like themselves. I've talked to my husband (he's white), and we'll have these conversations about representation, and it's really interesting to see his perspective on it because he doesn't feel like he needs it, but it’s because he already has it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I know what you mean. My partner is white and we've had this similar conversation where he's like, ‘I didn't think about the importance of seeing myself. I don't have to think about whether or not there are enough white engineers, because most of the engineers I went to school with and was taught by are white’.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Right, right, so it’s interesting to see, oh, you've never even thought about it. I grew up in Georgia, in a very rural part of Georgia, so it was predominantly white. And so I was constantly getting told that my hair smelled funny, and things, like, are you adopted? I mean, that's a mixed thing, but in general all these comments, and just to be at SACNAS or NSBP and to be ‘normal’ and not even think about it, it's just so nice.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yeah, absolutely. I have not been to NSBP in person yet, but I remember my first SACNAS and like being like, wow, it's an entire conference of people of color!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Straight up, like, I talked to this one guy and he was so nice. And he was from Georgia Tech (my Alma Mater), and I was about to tear up a little bit. And everyone is just this lovely and I did not know I needed this.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #d82292; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CSMA:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I cannot wait for those conferences to be in person again because they're honestly so great. And I was bummed that NSBP was virtual and SACNAS, but hopefully this year we can go back to being together. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So finally, what does Black History Month mean to you?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #fa8a3b; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kiersten:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It means so much. I think that it's just a great time to appreciate our history and appreciate all the amazing people that are out there that usually don't get that limelight, right? And I think a lot about my own family ‘cause I was taken in predominantly by the Black side of my family. Like my grandmother on my dad's side was racist and all of this stuff.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidqRWCT4DjpTgj8ugr3wxmzERzDEWmJd8eI6mT7nYxhV8PDa6pSy9GXggN9uDdEAmBBixRplA6JZTdZ061sYPhl9upOICyryMJvrbBBEtvEaNWPBGgnJ-cMStita53MAxHfdNkQxWm3qlO3SLT1aFANHefaJefCwkzboP3wdGljxMGn2K4K0nxf04p=s940" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="940" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidqRWCT4DjpTgj8ugr3wxmzERzDEWmJd8eI6mT7nYxhV8PDa6pSy9GXggN9uDdEAmBBixRplA6JZTdZ061sYPhl9upOICyryMJvrbBBEtvEaNWPBGgnJ-cMStita53MAxHfdNkQxWm3qlO3SLT1aFANHefaJefCwkzboP3wdGljxMGn2K4K0nxf04p=w457-h420" width="457" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kiersten and her amazing mom! </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, you know, it was predominantly the Black side of the family that took me in. So I think about this long line of just amazing people and their stories and their amazing accomplishments. Most of the time they get brushed over and you don't hear about them, but there has been a push a little bit to recognize those voices, but I feel like historically we haven't really heard their stories as much as we should have. Black History Month is a time to amplify our voices.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><br /></span><p></p>Erin Flowershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13654710195216527007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-34925734256244954082020-06-04T10:45:00.000-07:002020-06-04T11:12:48.525-07:00Justice and Equity for Black People in the United StatesAs cities have burned across the United States of America over the past few days, it has highlighted the deep-rooted issues in the United States of America. This message does not speak on <i>behalf </i>of Black People in the United States of America, but is crafted from the perspective of <i>a</i> Black Person in the United States of America.<br />
<br />
<b>If you do not actively and consistently assist, advocate, or support Black People and Black Communities in your regular activities then you are part of the problem.</b><br />
<br />
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."<br />
<br />
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmad Aurbery are just four of the countless Black lives that were lost due to police brutality and, more importantly, not given the justice they deserved. These are not isolated incidents, and they stem from a much longer and broader history of the erasure of Black humanity in this country.<br />
<br />
You may ask, "Where do I even start?" Well, the first step is education. African American descendants of slaves have generated over a Trillion dollars (conservative estimates) in wealth to the American Colonies and the United States since the first documented slaves were brought to the continent around 1619 (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html">article link</a>). Restitution, reperations (not just monetary), and reconcilliation were never fully achieved even after the so-called abolishment of slavery with the 13th Amendment (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8">video link</a>) after the U.S. Civil War. The Reconstruction Era (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97JqxwjTuf8">video link</a>) was supposed to accomplish this, but white America broke the promise to Black America.<br />
<br />
Hence, the frustration seen in the streets of these cities is not new, has continually been brewing for decades, and is a result of perpetual discrimination in many aspects of American society, including but not limited to:<br />
<br />
<b>A. Financial Industry and Wealth</b> (<a href="https://youtu.be/Mqrhn8khGLM">video link</a> and <a href="https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/one-time-pubs/color-of-wealth.aspx">study link</a>) - Including housing (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaPQN0aW47I">video link</a>), banking (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA8xxo88-UE">video link</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/16/black-owned-firms-are-twice-as-likely-to-be-rejected-for-loans-is-this-discrimination">article link</a>), and a cumulative "Black Tax" (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w3o8uHVkKQ">video link</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Black-Tax-Cost-Being-America/dp/0999007203">book link</a>) which is a starting estimate to any monetary reparation.<br />
<br />
<b>B. Education System</b> - College entrance exams (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjVVwMGJ9S8">video link</a>). Some University statistics (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/24/us/affirmative-action.html?_r=0">web link</a>).<br />
<br />
<b>C. Political System</b> - "Redlining" (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/upshot/how-redlinings-racist-effects-lasted-for-decades.html">article link</a>), policing (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcCxsLDma2o">video link #1</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8">video link #2</a>), and government systems (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQomlXMeek">video link</a>). Including after "Reconstruction" (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97JqxwjTuf8">video link</a>).<br />
<br />
<b>D. Health Care System</b> - Including experiments on black people (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfYRzxeMdGs">video introduction</a>) and inequities highlighted by COVID-19 (<a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/04/health-care-disparities-in-the-age-of-coronavirus/">article link</a>).<br />
<br />
These information links are all introductory and by no means equivalent to the exhaustive studies, articles, and investigations that have been conducted. The intent is to spark your interest in learning more and then taking action. All of these areas need to be repaired for true reconciliation to occur. Thus, there have been, are, and will be numerous opportunities for you to develop, fund, and volunteer your time for programs, initiatives, and events that benefit Black People and the Black Community. The choice is up to you to pick which ways you want to contribute, <b>but pick some</b> and work to Make America Great (M.A.G.) for the <u>FIRST</u> time!<br />
<br />
For those who are able to put their money to action, here is a non-exhaustive list of donation opportunities:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://tinyurl.com/bail-legal">Bail funds and legal help by city</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://donorbox.org/support-the-detroit-justice-center-1">Detroit Bail Out Funds</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://secure.givelively.org/donate/the-bail-project">The Bail Project</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://chicagobond.org/donate/">Chicago Community Bond Fund</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.isuroon.org/donate-to-isuroon/">Isuroon</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.spiralmn.com/donate.html">Spiral Collective</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.migizi.org/support-us">Migizi</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/bond-for-shateina-el-grady?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&rcid=3d41f56b286f4dfd902e42e7821b49c4">Bond, Legal, Medical For Sha’Teina El Grady GoFundMe</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://aapf.org/support">The African American Policy Forum</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.givemn.org/organization/Littleearth">Little Earth Residents Association</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://secure.actblue.com/donate/national-bail-out-1?amount=$100">Black Mama’s National Bailouts</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://michigansolidaritybailfund.com/#contact">Michigan Solidarity Bail Fund</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/?fbclid=IwAR3UiAqkqp5YsRwllQ9SoliddzI580rjKBlXd_vIAW7Hwn_viNNDie_cvqo">Southern Poverty Law Center</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.joincampaignzero.org/?fbclid=IwAR1lFoqyjHASB035yBkvK09IJn6MC01kP9tn7AsncTXEoujI2z1eYvLMtbA">Campaign Zero</a> </li>
</ul>
<br />
This statement is co-signed by members of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Committee for the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA), in alphabetical order:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Camille Avestruz </li>
<li>Alyson Brooks </li>
<li>Nicole Cabrera Salazar </li>
<li>Lía Corrales </li>
<li>Kate Daniel </li>
<li>Louise Edwards </li>
<li>Samaiyah Farid </li>
<li>Erin Flowers </li>
<li>Keith Hawkins </li>
<li>Audra Hernández </li>
<li>Moiya McTier </li>
<li>Christopher S. Moore </li>
<li>Carlos Vargas </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
The views and opinions expressed in this statement and links to related materials are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the American Astronomical Society.
Lía Corraleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739990458487566990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-71744803479109822372019-12-30T12:46:00.002-08:002020-01-03T12:58:49.052-08:00In preparation for AAS 235: Reflections from CSMA Co-Chair<br />
<i>Updated with words and input from Dr. Brittany Kamai, 2020-01-03</i><br />
<br />
The AAS Committee for the Status of Minorities in Astronomy is deeply committed to advocating for minoritized groups in our profession, as well as developing and educating allies within our community. As part of this mission, we feel it is imperative to acknowledge that astronomical facilities occupy Maunakea, a sacred site for Native Hawaiians that is also the most valued ground-based research location for many astronomers from around the world. It is important to recognize that the TMT construction and continued occupation of Maunakea is just one facet to the history of land use in Hawai’i, and thus should be viewed in the larger context of colonization.<br />
<br />
We also wish to acknowledge the spectrum of viewpoints and complex relationships that Native Hawaiians have with the astronomy research community. Hawaiian peoples also have a long history of technological prowess and astronomical navigation. We strongly encourage all astronomers, particularly those who will be in Honolulu for the AAS meeting this January, to engage respectfully with Hawaiian culture by listening to the local dialogue and engaging in Hawaiian ways of thinking. <br />
<br />
We strongly encourage AAS attendees to familiarize themselves with the <a href="http://envisionmaunakea.org/hui-hoolohe/hui-hoolohe-report/">Envision Maunakea report</a>, which was distilled from a set of open listening sessions meant to engage the Maunakea community in productive dialogue.<br />
<br />
On October 31, CSMA hosted a speaking session on the culture of Maunakea at the annual <a href="https://www.sacnas.org/">SACNAS</a> meeting (Society for the Advancement of Chicanx/Hispanics and Native American Scientists), which also took place in Honolulu. As the largest gathering of Native American STEM researchers in the country, this meeting offered the opportunity to engage and support Native Hawaiian scientists in unprecedented ways. We list here a short summary of lessons learned from this event.<br />
<ul>
<li>There is no monolith of thought from Native Hawaiians on the future of Maunakea. There are Hawaiians who believe the construction is directly inline with Hawaiian values whereas there are Hawaiians who believe that the construction will lead to desecration of a sacred place.</li>
<li>The Maunakea demonstrators are not anti-astronomy or anti-science.</li>
<li>“Pono science” is the Hawaiian way of holistically doing science including how one engages with communities, other disciplines and self. </li>
<li>Demonstrators on Maunakea are not “protestors”. They are kia’i (<b>protectors</b>) of the land and environment. Not all Native Hawaiians are kia'i.</li>
<li>The kia’i will always stand to protect their Mauna against the building of TMT.</li>
<li><a href="http://hawaiireview.org/mauna-kea/2019/7/25/kapu-aloha">“Kapu Aloha,” a compassionate commitment to pono (truth) and reverent loving</a>, is the guiding principle and code of conduct of the protectors. </li>
<li>Learning the Hawaiian language is one of the best ways to engage with and understand Hawaiian culture and values. There are over a hundred professional astronomers engaged in Hawaiian language courses, and you can now learn Hawaiian on Duolingo. We encourage visitors to Hawai’i to check it out. </li>
<li><b>Those looking to stand in solidarity need to understand that there is not one mind on this. Represent your views not what you perceive as all Native Hawaiians views.</b></li>
<li>When discussing this topic, understand that this is an emotionally-complex topic for everyone. Ensure that you engage in conversations with respect. If you are not in a place to engage in respectful conversation then step away. Choose words of compassion as you seek to understand where someone is coming from.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
AAS 235 events related to indigenous culture and astronomy</h3>
<a href="https://imiloahawaii.org/"></a><br />
<ul><a href="https://imiloahawaii.org/"></a>
<li><a href="https://imiloahawaii.org/"></a><a href="https://imiloahawaii.org/">‘Imiloa Astronomy Center</a> (Exhibit hall) </li>
<li>Workshop: Astronomy Communication and Science Engagement with Religious Publics (Saturday, Jan 4, 12:30 - 4 pm)</li>
<li>Special Session: Innovative Collaborations of Integrity with the Hawaiian Community<br />(Sunday, Jan 5, 10 - 11:30 am) </li>
<li>Plenary: He Lani Ko Luna, A Sky Above: In Losing the Sight of Land You Discover the Stars, Kala Baybayan Tanaka and Kālepa Baybayan (Polynesian Voyaging Society)<br />(Sunday, Jan 5, 11:40 am - 12:30 pm) </li>
<li>Public Event: Stargazing Party<br />(Sunday, Jan 5, 7-10 pm, Ala Moana Beach Park) </li>
<li>Special Session: The Many Facets of Hawai'i Astronomy<br />(Monday, Jan 6, 2 - 3:30 pm) </li>
<li>Plenary Lecture: Amy Kalili ('Ōiwi TV)<br />(Monday, Jan 6, 3:40 - 4:30 pm) </li>
<li>Public Talk: Physics of Pō, Larry Kimura (College of Hawaiian Language & Hawaiian Studies) and Doug Simons (Canada- France-Hawai'i Telescope) <br />(Monday, Jan 6, 7 - 8:30 pm) </li>
<li>Local Student Education Outreach Event<br />(Tuesday, Jan 7, 11:30 am - 2 pm) </li>
<li>Special Session: Astronomy and Culture - Best Practices for Systematic Transformation in an Increasingly Diverse and Interconnected Global Society<br />(Tuesday, Jan 7, 2 - 3:30 pm) </li>
<li>An Evening with the Maunakea Observatories<br />(Tuesday, Jan 7, 7 - 9 pm) </li>
</ul>
<h3>
Additional Reading</h3>
<div>
Native Hawaiian voices on TMT:<br />
- <a href="https://www.imuatmt.org/">Imua TMT</a><br />
- <a href="https://www.puuhuluhulu.com/">Pu'uhuluhulu</a><br />
<br /></div>
<a href="https://www.sacnas.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019respectfulguest.pdf">2019 SACNAS Guidelines on how to be a good guest in Hawai’i</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://envisionmaunakea.org/hui-hoolohe/hui-hoolohe-report/">Envision Maunakea Report</a><br />
<br />
This collection of resources was led by Dr. Brittany Kamai for the SACNAS 2019 conference attendees. Input was recieved from a spectrum of views of Native Hawaiians and astronomers. This is not a comprehensive list rather a starting point. We recieved permission to share this list here.<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bk39SuN8RBhhdDgjeHAClLg629c8AKav/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bk39SuN8RBhhdDgjeHAClLg629c8AKav/view?usp=sharing</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://baas.aas.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/135_kimura.pdf">Astro2020 APC White paper: “A Hua He Inoa: Hawaiian Culture-Based Celestial Naming</a><br />
<br />
Meyer, Manu (2001). “Our own liberation: Reflections on Hawaiian epistemology.” The Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs. Volume 13, number 1, Spring 2001, pp. 124-148. <br />
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2001.0024">https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2001.0024</a><br />
<br />
Meyer, M. A. (2014). “Holographic epistemology: Native common sense.” Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 3435-3443.<br />
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_6">https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_6</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Detours-Decolonial-Hokulani-K-Aikau/dp/1478006498/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QI27TA6QFZE6&keywords=detours+a+decolonial+guide+to+hawaii&qid=1577463202&sprefix=hawaii+detours%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-1">Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai’i</a><br />
<br />
The views and opinions expressed in this statement and links to related materials are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the AAS or all individual CSMA members.Lía Corraleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739990458487566990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-3237699417603148482019-07-20T08:22:00.001-07:002019-08-09T02:47:30.393-07:00 Statement on #TMTShutdown<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIrZetbrgNSzRf8Dbh1xonAk-fdbC2qLpOfPL-ev2ZbXj-sVv4fCrOSlQRvonfRB5BVhckOjTFBjYop5mmUZjPun7p3zycSOFkLatcZaGzU33H6Vo6Ih1S0RMzXkxo3XPFjIXR7utiSh4/s1600/mauna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1484" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIrZetbrgNSzRf8Dbh1xonAk-fdbC2qLpOfPL-ev2ZbXj-sVv4fCrOSlQRvonfRB5BVhckOjTFBjYop5mmUZjPun7p3zycSOFkLatcZaGzU33H6Vo6Ih1S0RMzXkxo3XPFjIXR7utiSh4/s400/mauna.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6e6e6e; font-family: "franklinpro" , "franklinitcprolight" , "franklin gothic medium" , "franklin gothic" , "itc franklin gothic" , "apple sd gothic neo" , "myriad set pro" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica neue light" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">(Caleb Jones/Associated Press)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 20pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Statement on #TMTShutdown</span></h1>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-0351e7d1-7fff-b19f-91e0-94e8f21aa916" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Dear fellow astronomers,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">On Wednesday, July 17th, 2019 riot police arrested dozens of Kānaka Maoli </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">(Native Hawaiian) elders who were peacefully protesting the construction of the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea. Land protectors continue to resist </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">in the face of military force after Governor David Ige declared a state of emergency </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and ordered the National Guard. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Along with racist, islamophobic, and anti-immigrant rallies hosted by the U.S. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">president as well as human rights violations by immigration officers at the U.S. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">border, these arrests are a continuation of the United States’ long and dark </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">tradition of scientific imperialism and colonization. The “controversy” surrounding </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">TMT has never been about science vs. religion - a dismissive, anti-Indigenous </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">argument that has been used to defend the economic and political interests of this </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">project. Rather, it is an issue of Hawaiian sovereignty.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">As members of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA), </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">we stand with the Kānaka Maoli land protectors. We implore the astronomy </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">community to consider the cost of valuing research objectives above human beings.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Please read, sign, and share widely the </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YR8M4eboRjJSsfvVtmukb6dDgUonDBdmj9AU0h1rkmY/edit" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Open Letter Opposing Criminalization of </span></a><br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YR8M4eboRjJSsfvVtmukb6dDgUonDBdmj9AU0h1rkmY/edit" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Mauna Kea Protectors</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> written by graduate students Sal Wanying Fu and Mia de los </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Reyes. We thank Sal and Mia for their emotional labor in putting this together.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">You may also consider donating to the </span><a href="http://kahea.org/donate/mauna-kea-legal-defense-fund" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Mauna Kea Legal Defense Fund</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> to support </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Kānaka Maoli activists on the ground.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Dra. Nicole Cabrera Salazar</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Dr. Lia Corrales</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Erin Flowers</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Prof. Adam Burgasser</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The above signatories are private citizens exercising their constitutional right to </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">express their personal views. This is not an official statement by the CSMA nor the </span><br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/karaokecomputer/status/1151821442247356417?s=20" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Video of Kānaka Maoli Arrests</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">shared by @KaraokeComputer on Twitter</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">)</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.space.com/thirty-meter-telescope-hawaii-mauna-kea-protests.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Protests Continue Against Giant Telescope's Construction on Hawaii's </span></a><br />
<a href="https://www.space.com/thirty-meter-telescope-hawaii-mauna-kea-protests.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Sacred Mauna Kea</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.apnews.com/29a0d0ce2f734a189759c5bffad8bdce" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Hawaii Telescope Protesters Don’t Back Down After Arrests</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://medium.com/@akkagawa/maunakea-redirecting-the-lens-onto-the-culture-of-mainstream-science-5d3a5a12376a" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Maunakea: Redirecting The Lens Onto The Culture Of Mainstream Science</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://massivesci.com/notes/mauna-kea-thirty-meter-telescope-colonialism-astronomy/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Fight For Mauna Kea And The Future Of Science</span></a></div>
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Dra. Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986414282309802076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-62195532004208501702019-03-13T16:09:00.000-07:002019-03-13T16:09:34.806-07:00How Ashley Walker Shined a Necessary Light on Black Junior Astronomers <div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="white-space: normal;">We have just finished celebrating Black History Month, and one of the most iconic events for the astronomy community happened on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/i/moments/1101571329592119297">the highlight of 53 Black junior astronomers by Ashley L. Walker</a>. Junior astronomers already don't receive as much recognition as more senior members in the field, and Black astronomers receive much less. By h</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">ighlighting these individuals, Ashley proved that there are already Black astronomers who are interested in and doing amazing research in astronomy. Now it's our job to make sure we retain them in the field. In our interview below, we asked Ashley about her motivation for this very important project.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, congratulations on your amazing accomplishment, highlighting</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> OVER 50 </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">black astronomers in a single month! How do you feel about achieving that?</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Ashley: </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thank you. I really didn’t think that I was going to highlight over 50 Black Junior Astronomers. I’m really excited that I got a chance to share the culture of Black astronomy and making it a safe space. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA: </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>What made you decide to launch this initiative?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Ashley:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I knew that Black History/Future Month was coming up and I wanted to pay homage to our African ancestors. Particularly, the ones that have died during the middle passage, during the civil war, and other horrific events leading up today’s society who could’ve been astronomers. I wanted to do something special for the unknown Black astronomers and thought that it would be awesome to highlight the current students that are studying astronomy. There’s ONLY 1% of Black people in Astronomy and I’m ready to fix that! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA: </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <i>How did you find all the Black astronomers you've featured?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Ashley:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I actually knew a great majority of them personally but I did request that people message me via Twitter or add comments with names of people that are astronomers for the ones that I didn’t know. Some of them were even international students as well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>What were the challenges you faced in putting together these highlights?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Ashley:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m currently an undergraduate senior Chemistry major at Chicago State University. Finding time was definitely hard in-between studying, working, attending a conference, two Adler planetarium events (being on a panel for Adler After Dark “A Night in the Afrofuture” and the pop-up program), currently working on my project with the Horst Phazer Lab group at Johns Hopkins University along with writing about the project for my senior thesis. I was definitely doing a lot of science communication while highlighting students. Also, some of the students were busy as well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>What do you hope will be the outcome of elevating fellow Black astronomers?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Ashley:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I hope that people recognize that Black people are awesome! This initiative should encourage others who are in positions of power whether for REUs, graduate and/or post-doc applications to recognize these individuals for their contributions to astronomy. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <i>What outcomes have you already seen?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Ashley:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I have received A LOT of positive feedback. Hopefully, this will encourage others to go into astronomy related fields, whether it’s traditionally or non-traditionally. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA: </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>How effective was Twitter as a medium for your work? Would you ever consider turning this into a website, news/magazine article, or book?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ashley: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was REALLY effective! This brought awareness of the students that aren’t normally shown. A LOT of the time that I do speak out, there’s a certain person (which I highlighted) that I ALWAYS think of. I REALLY am grateful for this opportunity.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, I would! So many people have asked me this. I’m definitely going make this into a website!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA:</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>How do you envision continuing or building on this initiative?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ashley:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m going to continue highlighting Black junior astronomers for BHM in October for the UK! So there will be a continuation. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; white-space: pre-wrap;">I plan on making this into a mini-comic book series. I want to inspire Black and Brown students. If you see more representation in the classroom or even reading a book, then you’ll have a good outcome of students wanting to become astronomers. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>CSMA: </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> What advice do you have for others interested in promoting underrepresented astronomers or scientists?</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Ashley: </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Continue highlighting students and people of color, invite them to outreach programs, diversity and inclusion talks, receive feedback from their perspectives. Make spaces for them to be able to feel comfortable and succeed in astronomy/STEM fields. Put them in positions to win! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Media platform "SisterSTEM" also witnessed the highlights and made a collection of all of the Black junior astronomers Ashley highlighted. Check it out below and be sure to follow these amazing astronomers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you for your important work and contributions to the field of astronomy, Ashley!</span></span></div>
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<a class="twitter-moment" href="https://twitter.com/i/moments/1101571329592119297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Black Astronomers You Should Know - by Ashley Lindalía</a> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Ashley L. Walker is a native of Chicago, IL. She is a candidate for a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry in her senior year at Chicago State University (CSU) and a recipient of the Chi Sci scholarship. She has worked on galaxy surveys with the Undergraduate ALFALFA (Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA) survey team, astrochemical scavenger hunts, and Hydrogen Cyanide in Protoplanetary Disks at the Banneker & Aztlán Institute. She is interested in astrochemistry with a focus on the early stages of planet formation. Currently, Ashley is conducting an internship at Johns Hopkins University with Dr. Sarah Hörst as her advisor. Her projects focus on Venus as well as Saturn’s moon, Titan. Recently, she was selected for and gave a talk at Science Speaks Chicago at the Adler Planetarium. Networking is one of Ashley’s strongest skills along with mentoring, activism, and leadership. She hopes to inspire a new generation of scientists, encouraging teenagers, adults, and Black women to continue their education regardless of their background and other obstacles in life. </i><br />
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Brianna Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793337107054041295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-2735512528524344492019-03-13T15:54:00.000-07:002019-03-13T15:54:03.023-07:00Call for Nominations: AAS Site Visit Team (Deadline Extended to March 24th)<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #cf220a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
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<i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From: Alicia Aarnio [anaarnio at uncg dot edu], Nicole Cabrera Salazar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[ncs at movebold dot ly], Stuart Vogel, Sheryl Bruff, KeShawn Ivory, Adam</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christensen, and Nancy Morrison [nancy dot morrison at utoledo dot edu] (the AAS SVOC)</span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The AAS Climate Site Visit program is getting underway. At the invitation of a</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">department's chair, a three-person site visit team will spend a day and a half</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">with the department, conduct interviews in order to assess the climate, and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">draft a report. Departments will benefit by receiving constructive feedback from</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">an unbiased team of neutral, highly-qualified peers. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are now assembling a pool of talented, accomplished people to conduct the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">site visits, from which a team of three people will be chosen, based on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">availability, for each site visit. We envision that each site visit team will </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">consist of a senior astronomer, another astronomer of a different identity from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that of the senior astronomer, and a specialist in human resources, diversity, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or another relevant area.</span></b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Those performing this service will make a major contribution toward advancing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">equity and inclusion in astronomy. There will be a modest honorarium for each</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">team member for each visit, and we expect that this experience will be</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">professionally valuable for anyone who has or aspires to a leadership position. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We invite nominations or self-nominations to the site visit team pool via this</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">questionnaire:</span><a href="http://bit.ly/sitevisit-team" style="color: #75262a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://bit.ly/sitevisit-team</span></a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The deadline to be considered for inclusion in the 2019 SVT pool </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">has been extended to March 24th, 2019. Later applications will be considered for future SVT pools.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Please don't hesitate to contact the SVOC (see the From: list of this message)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">if you have questions about the site visit team pool.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
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Dra. Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986414282309802076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-33346794687107740682019-02-25T13:31:00.001-08:002019-02-25T13:31:38.118-08:00Crosspost: Facing the Future: The CSWA seeks your input on our community needs in the 2020s!From the CSWA<br />
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During 2018 the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA) began an effort to gather information about what are seen by our communities as the areas of key importance beyond scientific research that the AAS, its divisions, and its relevant committees (including the CSWA itself) should focus on as we move into the 2020s. The goal is to use this information to (1) develop one or more white papers that will be submitted to the Decadal Survey as a part of the call for papers on an activity, project, or state of the profession consideration and to (2) develop a new strategic plan for the CSWA for the 2020s.<br />
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Our strategy has been to first identify the key areas and potential activities that could be undertaken in these areas by the AAS, its divisions, or relevant committees. We have taken all the input we have received so far and created a survey based on that information. Now we need you, the members of the communities the AAS and its divisions serve, to tell us which of the many wonderful activities and ideas that have been brought to our attention that you think will have the most impact and/or are the most important to focus on! (And tell us about anything we’ve missed!) The survey is organized around 4 key areas: Harassment and Bullying; Creating Inclusive Environments; Professional Development, Hiring, and Retention; and Professional Ethics, and also provides an opportunity to provide additional feedback and suggestions. The more input we have from you, the better we can plan to advocate for you and serve you! So please take a few minutes to contribute your input – we can’t do it without you! <br />
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The survey is completely confidential and anonymous– we are not gathering any personally identifiable information, nor are we capturing any information on who is accessing the survey. We estimate it will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete the evaluation of the activities in the four subtopics. There are additional open-ended questions and room for suggestions that are optional to address in as much or as little detail as the respondent wishes. The survey will be open until <b>Tuesday, April 23, 2019</b>. It can be accessed at:<br />
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https://goo.gl/forms/YEgYoTP4fKVtrSkx1<br />
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We look forward to hearing from you!Dra. Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986414282309802076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-50384956969132070062019-02-13T13:20:00.000-08:002019-02-13T13:22:33.716-08:00Call for Nominations: AAS Site Visit Team (Deadline February 28th)<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From: Alicia Aarnio [anaarnio at uncg dot edu], Nicole Cabrera Salazar</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[ncs at movebold dot ly], Stuart Vogel, Sheryl Bruff, KeShawn Ivory, Adam</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christensen, and Nancy Morrison [nancy dot morrison at utoledo dot edu] (the AAS SVOC)</span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The AAS Climate Site Visit program is getting under way. At the invitation of a</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">department's chair, a three-person site visit team will spend a day and a half</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">with the department, conduct interviews in order to assess the climate, and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">draft a report. Departments will benefit by receiving constructive feedback from</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">an unbiased team of neutral, highly-qualified peers. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are now assembling a pool of talented, accomplished people to conduct the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">site visits, from which a team of three people will be chosen, based on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">availability, for each site visit. We envision that each site visit team will </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">consist of a senior astronomer, another astronomer of a different identity from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that of the senior astronomer, and a specialist in human resources, diversity, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or another relevant area.</span></b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Those performing this service will make a major contribution toward advancing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">equity and inclusion in astronomy. There will be a modest honorarium for each</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">team member for each visit, and we expect that this experience will be</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">professionally valuable for anyone who has or aspires to a leadership position. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We invite nominations or self-nominations to the site visit team pool via this</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">questionnaire:</span><a href="http://bit.ly/sitevisit-team" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://bit.ly/sitevisit-team</span></a></b></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The deadline to be considered for inclusion in the 2019 SVT pool </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">is February 28th, 2019. Later applications will be considered for future SVT pool.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Please don't hesitate to contact the SVOC (see the From: list of this message)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">if you have questions about the site visit team pool.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Dra. Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986414282309802076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-52570681056615034142019-01-02T21:15:00.003-08:002019-01-06T22:27:09.163-08:00People of Color Presenting at AAS 233<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">CSMA is proud to highlight presenters at the January 2019 AAS meeting who identify as People of Color. Please direct any additions, corrections, and feedback to astronomyincolor [at] gmail.com</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">** Indicates that this person is applying for the Next Level (grad school, postdocs, etc)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Monday, January 7</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Talks</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Bryan Terrazas</b> (University of Michigan)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">106.04D: The Role of Black Hole Feedback in Suppressing Star Formation in Central Galaxies</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Ekta Patel</b> (University of Arizona)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">106.06D: Revisiting the Dynamical History of the Local Group in the Era of High Precision Astrometry </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Aomawa Shields</b> (UC Irvine)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Faculty</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">103.07: Hydrohalite Salt-albedo Feedback Could Cool M-dwarf Planets</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Ka'iu Kimura</b> (Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Institute Director</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">101 Plenary Lecture: A Color Out of Space: ‘Oumuamua’s Brief and Mysterious Visit to the Solar System</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Yashashree Jadhav</b> (Rochester Institute of Technology)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">116.02: Monsters on the move: A search for supermassive black holes undergoing gravitational wave recoil<br /><br /><b>Know Your Power</b> (Lauren Chambers, Nicole Cabrera Salazar, Lía Corrales, Dara Norman)<br />Special session</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Posters</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Qiana Hunt </b>(University of Michigan)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">144.31: Find the Quenching Mechanism of a z ~ 0.7 Post-Starburst Galaxy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Erin Flowers </b>(Princeton University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">140.29: Getting to Know Your Star: A comparison of analytic techniques for deriving stellar parameters and abundances </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Elizabeth Teng</b> (Haverford College)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">153.12: Pipe it up: How NICER Data Filtration Methods Affect Time-of-Arrival Accuracy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Osase Omoruyi </b>(Yale University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undegraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">154.03: A WISE GLIMPSE of Star Formation in the Outer Milky Way </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Lauren Chambers</b> (Space Telescope Science Institute)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Postbac Analyst</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">157.12: Preparing for JWST Commissioning Calibration and Science with the Multi-Instrument Ramp Generator (MIRaGe)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** David Zegeye</b> (Haverford College | University of Minnesota)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">151.02: Probing Additional Gravitational Lensing Effects of Supernova iPTF16geu</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Diego Garcia</b> (Middlebury College)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">163.02: Determining the Evolutionary Status of HD 166191</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Marcell Howard</b> (Case Western Reserve University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">145.08: : Probing the Evolution of Galaxies by Stacking Stellar Mass</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Aylin Garcia Soto</b> (MIT/Wesleyan University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Postbac/Research Assistant</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">154.12: Different Observational Properties of the Leading and Trailing Edges of the KH 15D Circumbinary Ring</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Prasiddha Arunachalam</b> (Rutgers University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">150.12: A HST study of the proper motion of the forward shock of 0509-67.5: a supernova remnant in the LMC</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Gaby Sanchez</b> (UH Manoa)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">144.13: Testing a Dust-Immune Metallicity Diagnostic in Nearby Metal-Poor Dwarf Galaxies with Far-Infrared Spectroscopy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Karen Perez</b> (Cornell University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">149.11: A Method for Mitigating Jitter Noise in Pulsar Timing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span data-sheets-userformat="{"2":513,"3":{"1":0},"12":0}" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sophia"}" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><b>** Sophia Singh</b> (</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">University of Southern California)</span><br />
<style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><span data-sheets-userformat="{"2":513,"3":{"1":0},"12":0}" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sophia"}" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span data-sheets-userformat="{"2":513,"3":{"1":0},"12":0}" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Graduate student"}" style="font-size: 10pt;">Graduate student</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><span data-sheets-userformat="{"2":513,"3":{"1":0},"12":0}" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sophia"}" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span data-sheets-userformat="{"2":513,"3":{"1":0},"12":0}" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Graduate student"}" style="font-size: 10pt;"><style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span data-sheets-userformat="{"2":513,"3":{"1":0},"12":0}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":157.01}" style="font-size: 10pt; text-align: right;">157.01: </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Thermal Blocking Filters for Infrared Applications</span><br />
<style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Nicole Arulanantham</b> (University of Colorado Boulder)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">163.11: Tracing Inner Disk H2 and CO in Protoplanetary Systems with HST-COS </span></span><br />
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Tuesday, January 8</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Talks</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Antonio J. Porras</b> (Vanderbilt University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">230.05: Dissecting the Anatomy of Bulge and Disk Dominated Galaxies through DARK SAGE</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** KeShawn Ivory</b> (AAS Site Visit Oversight Committee + Rice University (alma mater)), Post-bacc</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Nicole Cabrera Salazar</b> (Movement Consulting)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Town Hall: Climate Site Visit Town Hall</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>J. Sebastian Pineda</b> (CU Boulder)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Postdoc</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">204.03: FUMES: Simultaneous Optical and UV Spectroscopy of an M-dwarf Flare</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Eileen Gonzales</b> (CUNY Graduate Center | AMNH | Hunter College)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">218.07 (Beth Brown Talk): A Reanalysis of the Age of TRAPPIST-1</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Gibor Basri</b> (UC Berkeley)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Faculty (semi-retired)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">219: Report of the 2018 AAS Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion in Astronomy Graduate Education</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Joey Rodriguez</b> (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Postdoc</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">218.01: A Compact Multi-Planet System With A Significantly Misaligned Ultra Short Period Planet</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** John F. Wu</b> (Rutgers University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">230.03: Gas and galaxy evolution in extreme z ~ 1 clusters and extreme z ~ 0.2 starbursts</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Posters</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Ashley L. Walker </b> (Chicago State University | Johns Hopkins University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">255.02: Infrared Transmission and Reflection of Titan Aerosol Analogues Under Vacuum</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Russell Van Linge</b> (UC San Diego)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">259.3: Tuning Into Brown Dwarfs: Long-Term Radio Monitoring of Two Ultra-cool Low-Mass Binaries</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Romy Rodriguez</b> (The Ohio State University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">259.45: Finding Flares on M dwarfs with ASAS-SN</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Pa Chia Thao</b> (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Post baccalaureate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">247.23: The Young Exoplanet K2-25b: Flat Spectrum and High Eccentricity </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Eileen Gonzales</b> (CUNY Graduate Center | AMNH | Hunter College)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">259.01: Is TRAPPIST-1 a Unique M-dwarf Host Star?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Jennifer Strafford</b> (The Ohio State University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">258.14: The Age Evolution of Radio Morphology of Supernova Remnants</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Yssavo Camacho-Neves</b> (Rutgers University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">258.06: Spectral divergence of the Type Iax Supernova SN 2014dt </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Junellie González Quiles</b> (University of Maryland - College Park)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate Student </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">247.2: Prioritizing Exoplanet Targets for Atmospheric Study using NASA’s TESS Mission</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Dhanesh (DK) Krishnarao</b> (University of Wisconsin-Madison)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">257.02: Online Astronomy Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Leonardo Ruales</b> (Stony Brook University )</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">261.03: Quantifying the Lensing Power of Cosmic Telescopes</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Nicel Mohamed-Hinds</b> (Stanford University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">261.12: Using Machine Learning to Predict the Masses of Galaxy Clusters</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>iPosters</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Dhanesh (DK) Krishnarao</b> (University of Wisconsin-Madison)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">267.03: Ionized Gas Near Galactic Center: Physical Parameters and Mass Estimates</span></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Wednesday, January 9</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Talks</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Laura Mayorga</b> (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Postdoc</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">326.06: Cassini Phase Curves of the Galilean Satellites and Implications for Direct-Imaging of Icy Exoplanets </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Ferah Munshi</b> (University of Oklahoma )</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Faculty </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">351.21: Into darkness: what the MARVEL-ous Dwarf simulation can tell us about star formation</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Erin Cox</b> (Northwestern University )</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Postdoc</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">320.07: Using ALMA to push the limits of mapping magnetic fields in protostars</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Carlos Eduardo Munoz Romero</b> (Grinnell College)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">301.05: Characterizing Exoplanets with SKYWALKER: An Open Source Multi-Model Spitzer Self-Calibration Pipeline</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Malena Rice</b> (Yale University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">302.02: An Occultation Network as a Detector of Distant Solar System Objects</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Hwihyun Kim</b> (</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Gemini Observatory)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Assistant Scientist</span></span><br />
<style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span data-sheets-userformat="{"2":513,"3":{"1":0},"12":0}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":342.03}" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: right;">342.03: </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Selection and Identification of LEGUS cluster candidates </span><br />
<style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Posters</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Mia de los Reyes</b> (Caltech)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">366.03: Revisiting the Integrated Star Formation Law</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Danielle Rowland</b> (Columbia University / STScI)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">351.01: Satellite Galaxy Characteristics in the SAGA Survey </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Evan Haze Nunez</b> (California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">364.16: Using Distant Galaxies to Constraing the Ionizing Photon Budget of Massive Stars</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Rodolfo Montez Jr.</b> (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Scientist</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">364.13: XMM-Newton observations of the AGB star chi Cyg and post-AGB star U Mon</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Sinclaire Manning</b> (The University of Texas at Austin)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">368.08: Radio Morphologies of Dust Obscured Starbursts in the SuperCLASS Field </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Betsy Hernandez</b> (Princeton University )</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Post baccalaureate </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">369.18: Migration of Embedded Black Holes in Active Galactic Nucleus Disk Simulations</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Sierra Garza</b> (California State Polytechnic University - Pomona)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">359.06: First Steps Investigating the Relationship between Solar Surface Magnetic Field and Coronal Soft X-Ray Spectra</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Lina Florez</b> (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">363.22: Characterizing OH Sky Spectra Using SDSS BOSS Data </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Tharindu Jayasinghe</b> (The Ohio State University )</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">360.06: Constructing an all-sky catalog of bright variable stars with ASAS-SN</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">*<b>* Tenley Hutchinson-Smith</b> (Spelman College)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">348.2: Variability of Hundreds of X-ray Binaries</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Oscar Cantua</b> (The University of Texas at San Antonio)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">368.07: The old the red and the dusty</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Aleezah Ali </b> (University of Washington )</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">348.12: Optical and Infrared Observations of the T Tauri Binary KH 15D</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Bayu Wilson</b> (University of Washington)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">355.1: The Lyman-beta Power Spectrum from the XQ-100 Legacy Survey</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Marcus Dupont</b> (Florida State University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Undergraduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">359.04: Comparative Study of the Solar Wind: Modeling Charge State Distributions in the Heliosphere</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Thursday, January 10</span></span></h2>
<i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Talks</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Natalia Guerrero</b> (MIT)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Research associate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">423.03: TESS Objects of Interest Catalog for Sectors 1-4 of the TESS Mission</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Amber V. Britt</b> (Fisk University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Master’s Student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">402.06: Coronagraph Simulations with LUVOIR and HabEx: A New Era of Exoplanet Characterization</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Ray Sharma</b> (Rutgers University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">435.04: Hungry Heart: Black Holes in Simulated Dwarf Galaxies</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Catherine Espaillat</b> (Boston University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Assistant professor</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">421 Plenary Lecture: From Disks to Planets: Observing Planet Formation in Disks Around Young Stars</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><i>Posters</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>Theron Carmichael</b> (Harvard University)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">465.01: Exploring the Brown Dwarf Desert: Short-period substellar companions from the Kepler and K2 missions</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><b>** Gabriel Casabona</b> (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Graduate student</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">456.07: Detonation Initiation in Type Ia Supernovae</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>Lía Corraleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739990458487566990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-11736566345231404542018-12-08T11:18:00.001-08:002018-12-08T11:18:21.207-08:00Applications open for Advancing Theoretical Astrophysics Summer School<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Advancing Theoretical Astrophysics Summer School</span></h2>
<i>July 15-26, 2019 at University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands</i><br />
<b><i>Application due January 15, 2019</i></b><br />
For more information, see <a href="https://collectiveastronomy.github.io/advancingtheoastro/">https://collectiveastronomy.github.io/advancingtheoastro/</a><br />
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“Advancing Theoretical Astrophysics” is a two week long, international summer school intended to build and strengthen essential skills in physics and computation for a career in theoretical astrophysics. The summer school prioritizes a supportive, collaborative, and diverse learning environment.<br />
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The target groups for this school are graduate students pursuing a degree in astrophysics, with a BSc degree in physics or astrophysics (note that we will consider well-motivated exceptions on a case-by-case basis, such as early-stage postdocs wishing to change research area). One of our primary goals is to encourage young researchers who have an interest in pursuing theory, but have had only limited experience or access to resources, to make the leap. Attendees of the school will learn and employ a variety of computational methods, so a basic comfort level with linux and coding/scripting is expected.<br />
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The school will be a mix of short topical lectures and interactive problem solving, using methods that can be applied to a wide range of topics. Students will work collaboratively on several types of canonical problems (with guidance from teachers and more advanced students), gaining hands-on experience with cutting-edge techniques employed in modern theoretical astrophysics. Examples include setting up and solving non-linear differential equations, running numerical simulations of (magneto)hydrodynamic equations, and utilizing order-of-magnitude techniques to develop intuition for a physical problem. We will also provide training in essential complementary skills such as data visualisation, public speaking, proposal writing, and networking.<br />
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We welcome applications from everyone, but we especially encourage applicants from under-represented groups and countries with access to less resources for theoretical astrophysics. We hope to not only provide students with the tools to succeed in theoretical astrophysics, but to advance the science itself by opening the conversation to a diverse range of viewpoints, creating new pathways and approaches to solving the most difficult and interesting problems in the universe.<br />
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<b>Confirmed Lecturers/Mentors/Facilitators: </b><br />
Camille Avestruz (University of Chicago/University of Michigan), Nicole Cabrera Salazar (Movement Consulting), Chiara Ceccobello (Chalmers University of Technology), Jane Dai (University of Hong Kong), Jason Dexter (CU Boulder), Sebastian Heinz (U Wisconsin, Madison), Daniela Huppenkothen (University of Washington, Seattle), Andrew King (University of Leicester), Nicole Lloyd-Ronning (Los Alamos National Laboratory/University of New Mexico), Sera Markoff (University of Amsterdam), Gibwa Musoke (University of Amsterdam), Samaya Nissanke (University of Amsterdam), Smadar Naoz (University of California, Los Angeles), Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (University of California, Santa Cruz/DARK Copenhagen), Irene Tamborra (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen), Alexander Tchekhovskoy (Northwestern University)Lía Corraleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739990458487566990noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-58024505288017801202018-08-29T11:49:00.000-07:002018-08-29T11:49:04.434-07:00TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Analis Lawrence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-s6yaC8aRWQ5Ive36k7Gpu65bvU7ll_Ls3FYfYJOj6B4ZE5xFkWo5gv7RJr2RBRlD-HXzcpuVwVIM6dJTPvxPeeQhOX2En_TLy1K_fBohMJJX-WuK0hqWIUV54G6ivvCMhW0GWCy6jpf-/s1600/analis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="658" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-s6yaC8aRWQ5Ive36k7Gpu65bvU7ll_Ls3FYfYJOj6B4ZE5xFkWo5gv7RJr2RBRlD-HXzcpuVwVIM6dJTPvxPeeQhOX2En_TLy1K_fBohMJJX-WuK0hqWIUV54G6ivvCMhW0GWCy6jpf-/s320/analis.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #6e3b00; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">The fifth TAURUS Scholar Spotlight of the summer focuses on Analis Lawrence, who recently graduated from <a href="https://physics.fiu.edu/" target="_blank">Florida International University</a> with a major in Physics and minors in Astronomy and Mathematics. She will be attending the <a href="http://www.phys.ufl.edu/" target="_blank">University of Florida</a> as a graduate student</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #6e3b00; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #6e3b00; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">in the Physics Department in the fall of 2018. This summer Analis is working with <a href="http://www.as.utexas.edu/~bpbowler/" target="_blank">Prof. Brendan Bowler</a> on the Galactic kinematics of exoplanet host stars using Gaia, as part of the TAURUS research program at The University of Texas at Austin. He sat down with Analis recently for this interview.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #6e3b00; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;" /><br />
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<i><b>BB: What inspired you to pursue a career in astronomy or science in general? What draws you to science in the first place?</b></i></div>
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AL: A general passion for learning inspired me to pursue a career in astrophysics. But I have been most enchanted by reading and hearing about Albert Einstein’s work and his thought experiments on gravity, space, and time. I’ve been interested in science since a young age but not physics and astronomy until later in my academic career when I started going to schools that were STEM-focused. Exposure to physics for me came once I took a high school physics course, and later in college, when I got involved with the astronomy club at the Florida International University. I also became interested in astronomy through documentaries. </div>
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<b><i>BB: Please tell me more about yourself. What do you do for fun?</i></b></div>
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AL: For fun, I enjoy endurance running, playing and watching tennis, and painting when I have the time. My normal routine is a six-mile run in the mornings, which I do a few times each week. I also enjoy spending time with my friends and my loved ones.</div>
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<b><i>BB: In your opinion, what qualities makes astronomy so unique and compelling?</i></b></div>
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AL: What makes astrophysics so compelling to me is our insignificant size in the universe, yet how much space and time there is to explore. It’s easy to forget until you look up. I like that astronomy ponders big questions that are truly amazing, from the origins of the universe to the nature of black holes to the question “Are we alone?” What I find most appealing is space-time physics and cosmology from a theoretical perspective, which is the direction I aim to pursue in graduate school. I’m looking forward to exploring the theoretical astrophysics groups at UF.</div>
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<b><i>BB: Is there anything that you’re particularly proud of that you’d like to share— for example, something that’s happened along your academic or personal trajectory?</i></b></div>
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AL: I am most grateful for two REU’s at the University of Chicago. During the summer of 2016, I calibrated a photomultiplier tube for a liquid Xenon detector for their dark matter group with advisors Luca Grandi and Richard Saldanha. And the summer after, with Hsiao-Wen Chen, I carried out a statistical modeling study on highly ionized oxygen in star-forming galaxy halos. I then compared my model to observations of low-redshift galaxies from Hubble.</div>
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<b><i>BB: What mentors, teachers, or role models have been the most inspiring to you in your life?</i></b></div>
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AL: All of my teachers, coaches, parents, and family have been inspiring in my life. My most influential mentors have been in college, especially the particle physics and astrophysics professors at FIU. My mentor at FIU was Dr. Boeglin who studies nuclear physics. And Dr. Webb’s astronomy lectures and star parties first got me interested in the field as early as freshman year.</div>
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Documentaries and books by theoretical physicist Brian Greene have been especially captivating, and I have loved listening to his World Science Festival discussions with scientists and philosophers. I appreciate the way he’s able to simplify complex concepts for the public. All of these helped inspire me to change my major. </div>
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My high school physics teacher Mr. Smith also jumpstarted my interest in physics. He gave me an appreciation for critical thinking and brought much energy and enthusiasm to learning physics.</div>
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<b><i> BB: What challenges and obstacles have you faced in your career? How have you overcome these challenges? </i></b></div>
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AL: Attending schools in an underprivileged area has made me a hard worker and has taught me to try to think outside of the box, or to better realize that there is no box. Other schools tended to have more, enhanced resources for learning, and students there may have been introduced to physics earlier in their careers. But I was fortunate to attend schools with great STEM programs and teachers who exposed me to new opportunities and an interdisciplinary education. </div>
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<b><i>BB: You’ll be heading to the University of Florida for graduate school next month— congratulations! What are you most looking forward to at UF?</i></b></div>
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AL: I am mostly looking forward to meeting the faculty in the astrophysics theory group and the possibility to explore the different research opportunities, including LIGO. I’m also looking forward to TA-ing and meeting my fellow grad students.</div>
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<b><i>BB: What advice would you give to high school and undergraduate students of color interested in following your path?</i></b></div>
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AL: Keep your curiosity alive and be yourself. Always work hard.</div>
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<b><i>BB: What are your future and long-term career goals?</i></b></div>
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AL: I hope to become a professor. My interests are in space-time, black holes, and cosmology. Somewhere along the line, I want to help fix the minority and gender gap in physics education and careers.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Spotl</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">ight shared by Prof. Caitlin Casey, director of the </span><a href="http://taurusastronomy.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #75262a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;">TAURUS program</a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">.</span>Adam Burgasserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16375838998287047508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-14157162308335350242018-08-22T11:46:00.003-07:002018-08-22T11:46:50.283-07:00TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Gerlinder Difo Cheri<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fourth TAURUS scholar spotlight of the summer focuses on <b>Gerlinder Difo Cheri</b>, a rising senior at the <a href="https://www.uvi.edu/academics/science-math/departments/chem-and-phys-sciences/physics-program/default.aspx" target="_blank">University of the Virgin Islands</a>. Gerlinder is working with <a href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~avanderb/" target="_blank">Andrew Vanderburg</a> this summer, searching for evidence of planetary destruction around the burned out remnants of stars like our Sun.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gerlinder Difo Cheri joins us at the University of Texas at Austin from more than two thousand miles away in the US Virgin Islands. Coming to UT Austin poses both challenges and opportunities by virtue of the university’s sheer size: the number of students at UT Austin (about 51,000) is a bit more than half the total population of the US Virgin Islands (100,000). This summer, Gerlinder is making the most of the opportunities and resources in pursuit of his goals and ambitions. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gerlinder grew up on a steady diet of science- and technology-related media. He recalls being inspired at an early age by scientists he saw on television, like Bill Nye the Science Guy, who “just went out and solved things.” Gerlinder’s interest in astronomy seemed natural to him. “How can you </span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> be interested in astronomy?” he asks. These science and engineering role models drove him to enroll at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and begin studying computer science. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once he arrived, Gerlinder found the professors at UVI to be valuable role models as well. Before enrolling there, his role models were scientists and engineers (fictional or otherwise) he saw on television, ranging from Neil Degrasse Tyson to Tony Stark. But when he arrived at UVI, for the first time he met people who lived on his island and were pursuing his passion. Gerlinder found it indispensable to ask his professors about the challenges and struggles they faced. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite Gerlinder’s interest in astronomy, he was unable to dive in to the subject when he first enrolled at the UVI because the school did not offer any astronomy courses at that time. So when UVI offered their first astronomy class ever, Gerlinder immediately signed up. From there, Gerlinder took a leap and applied to be a TAURUS scholar at UT, which brought him here. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The future of astronomy is beautiful and expansive,” Gerlinder says. He sees and values how astronomy can capture the public imagination, like how his imagination was captured as a child learning about science and technology from communicators on television. He recognizes, however, that initiative is required to overcome barriers. When asked what advice he might give to a younger student in a similar position to himself, Gerlinder says “You have to actively search for what you want to do, and don’t just wait for it to fall into your lap." If you take the first step, you might just find yourself studying the stars.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: normal;">Spotl</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: normal;">ight shared by Prof. Caitlin Casey, director of the </span><a href="http://taurusastronomy.blogspot.com/" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #75262a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;">TAURUS program</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: normal;">.</span></span></div>
Adam Burgasserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16375838998287047508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-41562472857968929942018-08-09T21:58:00.002-07:002018-08-09T21:58:23.093-07:00TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Oscar Cantua<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">
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<i>The third TAURUS Scholar Spotlight of the summer is about Oscar Cantua, who is a physics major at the University of Texas San Antonio, just 100 miles down the road from UT Austin. Oscar is working with <a href="http://jorgeazavalas.wixsite.com/homepage" target="_blank">Dr. Jorge Zavala</a> this summer on the characterization of some of the Universe's most luminous and dusty galaxies.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i>Oscar Cantua joins TAURUS from a familiar institution that is also a part of the UT System: the University of Texas at San Antonio. Despite being less than 100 miles from his hometown and in the same educational system, Oscar says that this summer's research experience represents a new world of opportunities to pursue his future career in astronomy.</div>
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<br />Oscar’s interest in astronomy goes back to his childhood, when he first moved to the US from Mexico and used to read a lot of books to learn English. He realized that science books, and particularly astronomy-related storiesm were the most interesting to him. Some years later, astronomy went from being a hobby to a potential professional career after he spent a summer working at the NASA Johnson Space Center (yes, NASA!) as part of the <a href="https://nas.okstate.edu/has/" target="_blank">Texas High School Aerospace Program</a>. Now at UT San Antonio, Oscar is a physics major with a minor in astronomy. </div>
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<br />Oscar is part of the UT San Antonio's <a href="https://www.utsa.edu/topscholars/" target="_blank">Top Scholar program</a>, which combines a comprehensive four-year merit-based scholarship with personalized experiences in academics, leadership and community service. Thanks to this opportunity, he was able to get involved in scientific research early in his college career, analyzing data from the <i>Chandra</i> X-ray Observatory to study the nature of binary systems in nearby galaxies, under the supervision of <a href="http://physics.utsa.edu/Faculty/Schlegel/Schlegel.html" target="_blank">Prof. Eric Schlegel</a>. This summer, Oscar is jumping wavelengths from the very short and energetic part of the spectrum to the longest-wavelength observations achieved with the most powerful radio telescopes in the world, in order to identify and study the most distant dusty star-forming galaxies in the Universe.</div>
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<br />Looking back on the past, Oscar realized that it has not been easy to reach this point in his professional life. He is a first-generation college student, living far away from his family, and having to work while studying. Now he is closer to his dream of going to graduate school, not only with passion and enthusiasm for astrophysics but also with abundant knowledge and experience. </div>
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<br />Oscar's advice to young people, particularly to those belonging to underrepresented groups like him, is simply "never stop chasing your dreams.”</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: justify;">Spotl</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; text-align: justify;">ight shared by Prof. Caitlin Casey, director of the </span><a href="http://taurusastronomy.blogspot.com/" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #75262a; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;">TAURUS program</a><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; text-align: justify;">.</span></span></span><br />
Adam Burgasserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16375838998287047508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-48833118751642227572018-08-01T09:55:00.001-07:002018-08-01T09:55:25.924-07:00LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program (DSFP)<div style="color: #454545; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 22.66666603088379px;">Applications from URM students encouraged.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">We are pleased to announce that the LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program is now accepting applications for new students at <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://astrodatascience.org&source=gmail&ust=1533228810259000&usg=AFQjCNGNyPn1x4TgLx9Jqnzbx1mqIPPYYw" href="http://astrodatascience.org/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">astrodatascience.org</a>! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">The LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program (DSFP) is a supplement to graduate education in astronomy, intended to teach astronomy students essential skills for dealing with big data. You don't need to know anything about data science to apply, you just need to be excited to learn! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">The DSFP consists of three, one-week schools per year over a two year period. On top of teaching our students the skills they need for modern survey astronomy, we also aim to create a collaborative, supportive learning environment, and work to empower our students to teach the skills they learn to others. We strive to create an inclusive program, and particularly encourage applications from students from traditionally underrepresented groups in astronomy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Please visit <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://astrodatascience.org&source=gmail&ust=1533228810260000&usg=AFQjCNHuMMTMkpttygtbYV8nCcQ9TH8iug" href="http://astrodatascience.org/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">astrodatascience.org</a> to learn more!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Lucianne Walkowicz, Director</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Adam Miller, Program Director</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-36281078950376611192018-07-25T23:18:00.002-07:002018-07-25T23:18:38.551-07:00TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Gabriella Sanchez<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white; font-size: 16.5px;">This week's TAURUS Scholar Spotlight focuses in Gabriella Sanchez, a rising senior at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Gabriella's research focuses on gas outflows in nearby galaxies. She recently sat down with her research mentor at UT, Dr. Justin Spilker, to discuss her path to TAURUS and what's in store for her future.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i><b>JS: Who are you/where are you from?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">GS: I’m Gabriella Sanchez. 21 years old. I was born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii’s most populated island. I am the 5th of seven children. And will be the second to graduate from college next year. I’m majoring in astrophysics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: What inspired you to pursue a career in astronomy or science?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">GS: Honestly, I thought it would be pretty cool. I was always interested in NASA and outer space. To me, astrophysics seemed like a challenge and the most interesting major of my choices. I wanted to pursue a career that made me think critically and that I would always be fascinated by. In addition, I specifically chose astrophysics because I was interested in astronomy, but I wanted to learn/use a lot of math (I like math) and physics concepts.<br /><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: What aspects of your life do you think led you to do astronomy?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">GS: As a child, I was always curious. I think I thought about space a lot and always had the need to know what else is out there in the universe. My favorite movie at one point in elementary was Armageddon. I thought it was absolutely amazing! Of course, now that I’m more informed I see that it’s full of inaccuracies, but still… it’s a great movie! And perhaps the little kid in me dreamed of being an astronaut or discovering new objects in space.<br /><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: What are you most proud of so far in your life / career?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">GS: I’m most proud of a lot of things that I’ve experienced so far this year. First, I’m proud of where I am mentally. I feel I grew so much as a person and an adult. I’m proud I finally took initiative in applying to REUs and got accepted into 3 out of 5. I’m proud I’ve made it even this far in my college education, and glad at how much I was able to push myself. Lastly, I’m incredibly proud of myself for accepting this TAURUS internship and finally braving the experience of leaving home and being on my own for the first time. It’s been one of the greatest experiences in my life so far!<br /><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: Wow, hopefully this summer doesn't disappoint! What mentors, teachers, or role models have been the most inspiring to you in your life?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">GS: My biggest role models have definitely been my parents. They both didn’t have the opportunity to get a college education, didn’t come from “well-to-do” families. For so many years, they have struggled and sacrificed a lot, raising seven kids, but they always reminded us to work hard and to never do anything less than our best. Seeing them work so hard, and continue to do so, to provide for their family, and being able to give myself the opportunity for a better future and career has been my greatest motivation in life.<br /><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JS: Where to next? Where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years?</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16.5px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">GS: In five years or so I see myself with better experience in the research field and working with other astronomers. I hope to be working on my masters/PhD. I don’t have an exact plan to follow. I’d like to take my time and experience different fields of work. I’d also like to start a family sooner rather than later in my life. At the moment, I’m looking towards having a career outside academia but staying within the astronomy community.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: justify;">Spotl</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; text-align: justify;">ight shared by Prof. Caitlin Casey, director of the </span><a href="http://taurusastronomy.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #75262a; text-align: justify; text-decoration-line: none;">TAURUS program</a><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; text-align: justify;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>Adam Burgasserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16375838998287047508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-38775399615706317782018-07-03T07:49:00.000-07:002018-07-03T07:49:22.873-07:00Student Highlight: Betsy Hernandez<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJZUggwBlOM63FxTeFU7VR4RQvDVUcnQysIY7ZyQlh9EbsvsM5ak6nyOHO3TPwSiXRQMUFHAWaT996T62J9r9Gx0RTocHhOdFYTDMQ6E-3N_uBryT_KV5s5uMrSnsyJhf90HrktmlDt57/s1600/betsy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigJZUggwBlOM63FxTeFU7VR4RQvDVUcnQysIY7ZyQlh9EbsvsM5ak6nyOHO3TPwSiXRQMUFHAWaT996T62J9r9Gx0RTocHhOdFYTDMQ6E-3N_uBryT_KV5s5uMrSnsyJhf90HrktmlDt57/s320/betsy.jpg" width="180" /></a>Betsy is a first generation Dominican-American who has had a
non-traditional career trajectory. Betsy has loved science and math
since childhood, but she and her parents were unaware of the vast
careers in STEM, and so she initially pursued a path in medicine at the
City College of New York of the City University of New York (CUNY). Once
there, she learned about research and other nonmedical careers in
science. She later transferred to Hunter College CUNY and obtained a
bachelor's in Physics and Mathematics. While at Hunter College, Betsy
began her astronomy research through the <a href="https://cunyastro.commons.gc.cuny.edu/astrocom/">AstroCom NYC</a> Fellowship, which
is affiliated with CUNY schools and the <a href="https://www.amnh.org/">American Museum of Natural History</a>. Her other astronomy research experiences were through <a href="https://www.umdgradmap.org/">GRAD MAP </a>
at the University of Maryland in College Park and through the <a href="https://science.nrao.edu/opportunities/student-programs/nac">National Astronomy Consortium (NAC)</a> at <a href="http://www.stsci.edu/">Space Telescope Science Institute</a> where
her research focused on galaxies. During her year as a <a href="https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/adults/bridgeup-stem/helen-fellowship/helen-fellows-2017-2018">Helen Fellow</a> she has mentored youth, and performed a theoretical research project analyzing
galaxies and black holes. Afterwards, she will continue with her
education through the two-year <a href="https://web.astro.princeton.edu/academic/post-baccalaureate-program">Princeton Post Baccalaureate program</a>.
Betsy then hopes go on to graduate school and ultimately become a
professor. Additional interests include assisting in astronomy outreach
events like stargazing, and non-STEM work like cake decorating and Latin
dancing, specifically, dancing to merengue, bachata, salsa, and
cha-cha. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What’s an average day like for you?</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">My days vary throughout the week, so I try to focus on one task
per day. I attempt to schedule meetings, talks, and internship on the same days
to allow me to exclusively work on my research or lesson plan on other days.
For example, I will prioritize developing my lesson plan for internship for the
week on Mondays. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have my education weekly meeting,
astronomy colloquium, and internship. Wednesdays and Fridays, I prioritize
research and astronomy related work. Time management was very difficult in the
beginning because I tried to do a bit of everything each day and often felt
like I did not get much accomplished. After switching to my current schedule, I
feel I get more work done.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In your opinion, what qualities make your work so unique and
compelling?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As a Helen Fellow, you get a taste of what it's like to be a
professor in that your responsibilities are primarily teaching and research.
Juggling everything can be the hardest part because it's easy to prioritize
teaching over research. I mentor six high school girls with different sets of
skills on a research project for about four hours a week. They often forget
material we cover, so developing a lesson plan that challenges everyone without
leaving anyone behind can be difficult.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On the research side, I worked closely with my mentors to develop
my project, and as a result I was able to take ownership of my work early on
rather than feeling like I was working on someone else’s project. I currently
work on a computational research project simulating the motions of stellar mass
black holes in active galactic nucleus disks using a hydrodynamic grid code,
the Pencil Code. I have been examining how active galactic nucleus disks, which
are composed of gas, can drive changes in the orbital radius of stellar mass
black holes. The project goal is to determine if binary black hole mergers can
occur in the center of active galaxies in order to explain the Laser
Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory observations of these binary
mergers. I love this project because it incorporates black holes, which I love,
and finding answers to current scientific questions.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You recently gave a talk in Spanish about gravitational waves at
Columbia’s Astronomy Outreach event. What made you want to give such a
talk?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How did it go?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are multiple reasons why I wanted to give an astronomy talk
in Spanish. My mom doesn't speak English and growing up I had friends whose
parents did not speak English either. Our parents also were unaware of STEM
fields beyond medicine and engineering. I wanted to share my passion with my
mom and give her insight into what I do, as well as inform those whose primary
language is Spanish about additional STEM fields. One of my career goals is to
increase the number of people of color in STEM through accessibility and
inclusion.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I gave a talk on black holes because I find these objects
fascinating. I wanted to share with others what we know, what we don’t yet
understand, and ongoing research. As a kid I used to think that everything was
discovered, and I know others who thought the same. I wanted to show the public
that there is much that scientists are examining because there is much we yet
don’t understand.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I was told that my talk was very good. Sadly, attendance was a bit
poor. Some of the reasons for this may have been because the talk was around
finals week, which means many of the students were not around. The talk fell
during 5 de Mayo weekend, and many Spanish speakers I knew had prior
engagements. Finally, we still have not figured out what are the best outlets
to announce this event beyond Facebook and word of mouth.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Please tell us about yourself. What’s your story?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I'm a first-generation Dominican American. I loved science and math
as a child. My parents encouraged me to become a physician, because they
believed high-income jobs were limited to lawyers, doctors, and engineers.
Consequently, my sight was set on becoming a pediatrician after graduating high
school.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As a pre-med student at City College of New York (CCNY) of the
City University of New York (CUNY), I was first exposed to research
opportunities and careers through the Earth and Atmospheric Science Department.
During this time, I obtained an REU with <a href="https://www.giss.nasa.gov/">NASA Goddard Institute of SpaceStudies</a>. From this experience, I learned that our contributions to science are
important even if our findings fall short of our desired outcome, that research
is nothing like school work, and that we do not always find a solution at the
end of a research project. In 2010, I decided to switch paths and began to
pursue a degree in physics at Hunter College CUNY, after both discovering my
desire to become a physician stemmed mostly from my parents, and realizing that
I was a very curious person who loved deciphering how things work.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Since becoming an AstroCom NYC fellow in the spring of 2014, my
path to a physics career has become much clearer and my resolve has
strengthened. I developed the drive to obtain a Ph.D. in Astrophysics, through
the experiences as an AstroCom NYC fellow and other diversity programs,
specifically Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), Graduate
Resource for Advancing Diversity with Maryland Astronomy and Physics
(GRAD-MAP), National Astronomy Consortium (NAC), and Helen Fellowship. Each of
these programs has introduced me to a variety of projects that have helped me
hone in on the area of astronomy that I would like to focus on and introduced
me to many members of the astronomy community, so much so that now when I
attend conferences I always see people who I have met elsewhere.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Who inspired you as you were pursuing your career, and how?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After switching paths, I was lucky to be encouraged to apply to
AstroCom NYC by Kelle Cruz. The program was vital to my success in Astronomy.
Kelle became my career mentor and encouraged me to attend conferences and apply
to programs that would further my career. My research mentor Ari Maller tried
to incorporate my interests into our project and inform me of talks and conferences
that would interest me. Working with Suvi Gezari confirmed my desire to work on
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Seeing a plenary given by Philip Hopkins at the
229<sup>th</sup> AAS conference gave me the language to explain what I wanted
to do long-term. I spoke to him afterwards and he gave me advice on how to get
started working on simulations. Working Mordecai-Mark Mac Low and Wladimir Lyra
has confirmed my desire to work on simulations and made my desire to work on
AGN even more. Though I can’t say that anyone inspired me throughout my career,
there are many people who have supported, encouraged, and given me the tools
needed to pursue my interests.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What challenges or obstacles have you faced in your career, and
how have you overcome them?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I experienced hardships within my first year of undergraduate
study, which included health issues and financial strife that forced me to
procure a retail job. Consequently, working and health complications led to
some bad grades, class withdrawals, and long gaps in my years of study.
Balancing my health, schoolwork, research, and other responsibilities, like
helping my elderly mother have been exceedingly challenging. In order to stay
on course, I have implemented techniques to prevent my challenges from impeding
my academic performance; these include informing my mentors of personal factors
that could affect my academic/research work and creating a schedule that allows
room for alterations in case an emergency arises.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People of color, especially women of color, are severely
underrepresented in our field. Can you point to any factors (specific
programs, individual mentors, etc) that helped you succeed?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are many programs with the goal to diversify astronomy that
have helped me succeed. The first is AstroCom NYC in 2014, which has been the
program that has had the biggest impact. Through the program I had a research
mentor, Ari Maller, and a professional mentor, Kelle Cruz, assigned to me until
I graduated. I could also seek help be it research, professional development,
and other from the other faculty in the program, these include Saavik Ford,
Barry McKernan, Dennis Robbins, Tim Paglione, Charles Liu, Matt O’Dowd, Quinn
Minor, Emily Rice, and Jillian Bellovary. I also received a laptop, tuition
assistance, a metrocard, and funding to attend conferences during my
fellowship. In 2015, I received the yearlong stipend from the Louis Stokes
Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) to fund my research. I became a
Graduate Resource for Advancing Diversity with Maryland Astronomy and Physics
(GRAD-MAP) scholar and attend the winter workshop in 2015 and summer research
opportunity in 2016 with Tingting Liu and Suvi Gezari. Through the National
Astronomy Consortium (NAC), I completed a research project at Space Telescope
Science Institute (STScI) in 2017 with Ivelina Momcheva. Finally, the Helen
Fellowship has allowed me to work with Mordecai-Mark Mac Low at AMNH on a
research project that I am very passionate about. I have gained teaching
experience and funding to purchase materials and attend conferences that will
further my career.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Can you share any ideas you have about making astronomy a more
equitable and inclusive community?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I think it’s important to have people from different backgrounds
in committees that serve the community, because people of various groups have
an understanding of the needs unique to their groups. Also, visibility is
important to inspire aspiring astronomers. For example, some people have told
me that I’m a role model because I’m a woman, a person of color, and I have a
nontraditional career path in STEM. As a nontraditional Latina, I can speak on
behalf of components that helped me and I that have struggled with, which a
caucasian man who had no gaps in his education cannot. Even though people
outside a group can be aware of challenges facing that group, there will be
components that they do not know or could not understand. For example, I
consider colorblindness when creating my presentations, but I cannot formulate
all the important components for someone with visual impairment to follow a
presentation as would Wanda Diaz Merced, who is a blind astronomer. I would say
that continuing programs that promote diversity, outreach to inform various
groups how they can be part of the community, ask what they need to succeed in
the community, and place those interested in visible roles will change and grow
the community so that it is more equitable and inclusive.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What advice would you give to young women of color interested in
following your path?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Be sure to pursue what you love and not what others expect, and
this includes your parents. You’ll face a number of challenges that will
require stubbornness and passion to get you through. Ask senior people in your
field of interest what skills you need to develop to succeed and what can you
expect. For example, I was interested in becoming a theoretical cosmologist, so
I would ask those in the field what were the programming languages beyond
Python that would be useful to learn. As a result, I was not surprised learning
that I needed to use Fortran in my computational project. Avoid toxic people,
whether they are family or important in the field you are interested in. Surround
yourself with supporting people who encourage you and listen to their advice. I
was given really great professional advice from a professor. He said if you can
imagine waking up on a cold Tuesday morning at 5am, happy to go work, then you
have found your career. I’m a night person, so I say I know that I am meant to
be an astronomer because I look forward to work, and I’m happy staying up late
working on my project.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Any final words?</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Take advantage of opportunities, whether they are fellowships, research
projects, conferences, etc. Finally, try participating in a variety of research
projects before settling on one that will require years of investment such as a
thesis project. While one project made me interested in using observational
data, another showed me I was more interested in using processed data such as
that in surveys rather than using raw data. Other projects confirmed my
interest in black holes and simulations.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are different mentoring styles, and it’s important to figure
out your mentoring needs. Some people require micromanaging mentors that check
on them daily, while others prefer mentors that are less hands on. Some people
require mentors which they have a personal connection with, such that they can
share with them aspects of their personal lives, while others desire strictly a
professional relationship with their mentor. Understanding your own mentoring
needs and discussing that with potential mentors can be important for achieving
success.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Be kind to yourself. The nature of research is that we don’t know
the answer, so don’t feel bad that things are not moving along as you would
like. Also do activities that feed your soul. I dance as a hobby. Dancing
revives me and makes me really happy, as a result I look forward to working and
can focus better.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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</style>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-20282974652805486032018-06-29T13:38:00.002-07:002018-06-29T15:28:08.535-07:00TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Steve Anusie<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 13px;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve Anusie, Howard University, TAURUS Scholar, Summer 2018</td></tr>
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<i>The first TAURUS Scholar Spotlight of the year focuses on Steve Anusie, a rising senior at Howard University majoring in Electrical Engineering. Steve has strong interests in astrophysics as well, and is using his summer experience in TAURUS to explore possible astronomy-related careers. His research mentor, Dr. Cynthia Froning, writes about his path to-date.</i></div>
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Steve Anusie is an electrical engineering major at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Steve has just completed his first year (as a junior) at Howard after transferring from Morgan University in Baltimore, MD. The youngest of six sons and a Baltimore native, Steve traces his interest in astronomy to a single moment when, while delivering pizzas, he saw a bright light in the sky and almost swerved off the road trying to look at it. This was followed by a night of online investigation during which he identified the object as Venus and then was consumed with investigating other planets and the stars. Steve has always been interested in science and nature. What draws him in particular to astronomy is its scope: the excitement of knowing that we will never be done studying and trying to understand the universe. </div>
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When asked about previous mentors or inspirations, Steve mentioned his Astrophysics teacher at Howard, Dr. Alfred, who introduced Steve to his research work and collaborations at Goddard Space Flight Center. Steve particularly appreciates Dr. Alfred’s approachability, his kindness, and how he demonstrates the pursuit of a well-rounded life. Steve majored in EE at the urging of his mother and is now glad that he has taken this path, because he enjoys the intellectual challenges and the opportunity to pursue hands-on application of his STEM skills. He considers mastering mathematics and C++ as his greatest challenges to date, but appreciates how they are teaching him to be persistent in learning new information. Of his achievements, he is most proud of being accepted into the TAURUS program, as well as how his career are gelling after his transfer to Howard.</div>
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Steve's goals for the TAURUS program include learning about how research is done and what it would be like to pursue a graduate program in astronomy. He is also interested in instrumentation and the possibility of applying his engineering skills to astronomical work. His plans for this summer are to gather the experience necessary to set his targets for the remainder of his undergraduate career. He appreciates that his engineering major and astronomy interests give him the ability to pursue a broad range of professional options and plans to use the TAURUS program to decide where to direct his focus going ahead. </div>
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This summer, Steve is working with Dr. Cynthia Froning. He will be constructing light curves of flares in cool stars with the goal of identifying tracers of stellar activity and understand how flares affect the habitability of exoplanets around low-mass stars. Steve is also talking to different instrument builders in the Department and McDonald Observatory, touring labs and facilities, and learning about astronomical instrumentation careers as part of his summer research experience.<br />
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Spotlight shared by Prof. Caitlin Casey, director of the <a href="http://taurusastronomy.blogspot.com/">TAURUS program</a>.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-83700238638468118072018-06-15T13:45:00.000-07:002018-06-15T14:32:29.539-07:00Student Highlight: Ashley Walker<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ashley Walker in the Hörst Lab at Johns Hopkins University</td></tr>
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<i>Ashley L. Walker is a native of Chicago, IL. She is a candidate for a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry in her senior year at Chicago State University (CSU) and a recipient of the Chi Sci scholarship. She has worked on galaxy surveys with the Undergraduate ALFALFA (Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA) survey team, astrochemical scavenger hunts, and Hydrogen Cyanide in Protoplanetary Disks at the Banneker & Aztlán Institute. She is interested in astrochemistry with a focus on early stages of planet formation. Currently, Ashley is conducting an internship at Johns Hopkins University with Dr. Sarah Hörst as her advisor. Her projects focus on Venus as well as Saturn’s moon, Titan. Recently, she was selected for and gave a talk at Science Speaks Chicago at the Adler Planetarium. Networking is one of Ashley’s strongest skills along with mentoring, activism, and leadership. She hopes to inspire a new generation of scientists, encouraging teenagers, adults, and Black women to continue their education regardless of their background and other obstacles in life. </i></div>
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<b>1) You were recently selected as a speaker for Science Speaks Chicago. Congratulations! What did you present?</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Ashley</b>: Thank you. I was extremely excited to talk to the younger generations about a future in science. My talk focused on how I got started in astronomy, some of my challenges and experiences, and my research at the Banneker & Aztlán Institute at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, which focused on modeling ice chemistry in early planet-forming disks. </i></span></div>
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<b>2) Please tell us more about yourself. What’s your story?</b></div>
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<i><b>Ashley</b>: Which story? Hmmm….I’m a very interesting person. Growing up, I knew that Black scientists existed but I just didn’t meet any of them. I consider the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago my home. I live there and grew up around there. My grandparents’ home is still there. We’ve been in the neighborhood for over 50 years. We don’t see people that look like me become chemists, astronomers, or physicists. I want the people in my neighborhood to be exposed to what people of color (POC) scientists really look like and NOT the TV version. I first learned about astronomy at the age of 5, when my uncle bought me a telescope. It was red. As generic as it sounds, it was pretty cool. My aunts took my cousins and me to the Adler planetarium when I was about 9 or 10. I had ALWAYS wanted to go back. If you would’ve told me 12 years ago, that in future I’d be a scientist, I wouldn’t have believed you. </i></div>
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<i>I’m a non-traditional student. After transferring into CSU from a junior college, I was curious about the astronomy research that was being offered at the time. Dr. Kim Coble, my mentor, encouraged me to pursue astronomy research as a chemistry major and as a career. </i></div>
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<i>Currently, I’m doing an internship with Dr. Sarah Hörst. The group’s dynamic is so amazing. I fit right in. My main project is about Saturn’s moon, Titan. In the Hörst lab, we recreate planetary atmospheres, whether it’s early Earth, moons, or exoplanets. My job is to understand the effect of the prebiotic chemistry on Titan. </i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0gbnVbJbpK9CZuZCTRHuGoZwrtd_HBpPUe7djPRSUW0aIDC5M8-e71uYJU91wFpEMT_J3wFZLTK-XCzqNOTClRgBZXUZ-bKch8tDJ3JFwGF7lp_OQlb0Z6btbtpCXv5UA9CGDEnIawQ/s1600/IMG_1819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0gbnVbJbpK9CZuZCTRHuGoZwrtd_HBpPUe7djPRSUW0aIDC5M8-e71uYJU91wFpEMT_J3wFZLTK-XCzqNOTClRgBZXUZ-bKch8tDJ3JFwGF7lp_OQlb0Z6btbtpCXv5UA9CGDEnIawQ/s400/IMG_1819.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ashley with fellow Undergraduate ALFALFA Team students at the Greenbank Telescope</td></tr>
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<b>3) What kinds of self-care do you practice? What are the things that bring you joy and make you feel alive?</b></div>
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<i><b>Ashley</b>: I roller skate, draw, play flag football on a team in Chicago, aerial acrobatics and different types of dance from hip-hop to interpretative dance for my self-care practice. They all bring me joy along with my mom and my cats Pepper, Precious, and Smokey. </i></div>
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<b>4) What inspired you to pursue a career in astrochemistry?</b></div>
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<i><b>Ashley</b>: My mentor, Dr. Kim Coble, inspired me to pursue a career in astrochemistry. I was her first research student majoring in chemistry and the last research student she advised at CSU. Dr. Coble is amazing! She believed in me during the darkest time in my life and continues to do so. </i></div>
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<i>When I had was working with the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team, I saw that they had a special talk with a speaker for astrochemistry and my eyes lit up. I asked a lot of questions. While I was searching for career options in astrochemistry, I read about Emmett Chappelle. He’s the first black astrochemist I had ever heard of and he’s still living today at 92 years old! I want to increase the number of the African Diaspora in astronomy and the subfield of astrochemistry.</i></div>
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<i>Lastly, I’m inspired by my mother. When I was younger, she knew that this is something that I loved doing. My mom is making sure that I can do it. She is currently enrolled in school and will become a lawyer a couple years from now. She’s my shero!</i></div>
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<b>5) What challenges or obstacles have you faced in pursuing your interests in astronomy? How have you overcome them?</b></div>
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<i><b>Ashley</b>: I’ve faced the loss of loved ones, racism, discouraging/abusive mentorship, and sexism. My father passed away from lung cancer at the beginning of my third semester (Fall 2016). A few months later I discovered that I was mistakenly declared deceased by the Social Security Administration. I was unable to attend classes in the Spring because of this unfortunate event. I set up a GoFundMe page and with the help of well-known scientists, I was able to re-enroll in school. The issue didn’t get resolved until a few months later. </i></div>
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<i>However, none of this has stopped me from trying to pursue my goal of being an astrochemist. I’ve overcome all of this through hope, standing up for myself, and self-care. I’ve given myself confidence and helped other people who are going through similar issues. Sometimes, life can get tough and we need something that’ll uplift us. I hope to be an inspiration to them. My mom played a HUGE role in my self-care and the reason I’ve gotten this far. She makes sure that I’ll be okay. My friends have also been a great support system for me! One of them is Elizabeth Gutierrez, whom I met a little bit before we attended the Banneker & Aztlán Institute. She has been one of my most supportive and influential peers. She has incredible strength, wisdom, and brilliance. </i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ashley with her "astro siblings" at the Banneker & Aztlán Institute</td></tr>
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<b>6) What are some of your pie-in-the-sky career dreams?</b></div>
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<i><b>Ashley</b>: I want to work for either NASA Goddard Flight Center or NASA Ames in their astrochemistry lab. I want to co-host a podcast with my friends Elizabeth Gutierrez and KeShawn Ivory. Also, we will have our own planetarium for POC which highlights their contributions to astronomy where KeShawn will be the director, Elizabeth will be the Equity & Inclusion coordinator, and I will be entertainment and planetarium events coordinator along with being the dome theater narrator while speaking in AAVE (Ebonics) for all of the movies. </i></div>
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<i>Eventually, I want to become a commentator or a narrator on a science show because I’m funny and energetic. I also want to be a Christmas lecturer at the Royal Society like my favorite scientist, Michael Faraday. My facial expressions and some..okay all of the things that I say make people laugh. I want people to have fun while learning cool science. Later on down the line, I want to become a professor at Chicago State University and start a formal astronomy program. </i></div>
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<b>7) Black women are severely marginalized in our field. If astronomy were an ideal community for Black women, what would that look like for you?</b></div>
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<i><b>Ashley</b>: An ideal community for me would be having more women of the African diaspora in positions of power. We would be appreciated more, our ideas would be heard, and not stolen or used against us. Our schools would have more young girls and women of African descent in physics and astronomy classes. The workspace would be would be comfortable for us, we would have more support groups, and better pay for Black women. There would be more opportunities for Black women to thrive and survive. Self-care would be mandatory for Black women when things are stressful so that they could decompress and release any negative energy before working or attending classes. </i></div>
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<b>8) If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself about your career in astrochemistry?</b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">Ashley</b><b>: </b><i>I would say follow your first instincts and ask more questions. Don’t settle, limit yourself for certain criteria, or even have self-doubt because of someone else that is clueless about your choice of career. If your first mind says do it, be like Nike (Just do it). </i></div>
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<b>9) Any final words?</b></div>
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<i><b>Ashley</b>: My support team is awesome. I thank my mom, Dr. Kim Coble, and Dr. Kristy Mardis (my current research advisor) all the time. I kind of feel like I was tagged teamed in order to go down this route. My family, friends, people at Banneker & Aztlán Institute, UAT, and other mentors such as Drs. Lucianne Walkowicz, Nia Imara, Sarah Hörst, and sooo many more people have supported me and beyond what I could ask for. </i></div>
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<i>I want more Black/African descent girls and women to be confident in the skin that they’re in. Continue pursuing your goals, standing up for what is right, being confident in the work that you do, ALWAYS know that your happiness comes first, and self-care is THE BEST care!</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9CyJZsS9QSWRNqHE5r8scqNRawjpQbA2R4INVSkcqILwf-bf_QKVoYP1TU9-GJ899Wm4OiQjmvn1OK2DoKfzbH2WciXAKlIZzESs51mF0uF1NcorMUHvGjeF2qg45QbdCQMargsn-BfY/s1600/Screenshot_20180612-155019.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="1080" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9CyJZsS9QSWRNqHE5r8scqNRawjpQbA2R4INVSkcqILwf-bf_QKVoYP1TU9-GJ899Wm4OiQjmvn1OK2DoKfzbH2WciXAKlIZzESs51mF0uF1NcorMUHvGjeF2qg45QbdCQMargsn-BfY/s400/Screenshot_20180612-155019.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hörst Phazer Lab Group 2018-2019</td></tr>
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Dra. Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10986414282309802076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-88060292296789758502018-05-11T14:54:00.000-07:002018-05-12T19:05:57.128-07:00Statement Against the Policing of Black and Indigenous Students<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">[Content Warning: Racism, Anti-Blackness, Police Intimidation, Violence]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dear fellow astronomers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We bring to your attention a string of recent incidents involving Black and Indigenous students being racially profiled on university campuses in the United States. We urge you to reaffirm your commitment to the safety of Black and Indigenous astronomers, and especially students, within your institutions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On April 30th, the mother of two prospective white students called the police to report two Indigenous students on a campus tour of Colorado State University. She described them as “definitely not being part of this tour;” as individuals who really “stand out;” “their clothing had weird symbolism and wording on it;” “I think they’re Hispanic;” and that her husband said that “another dad...also on this tour, also believes they don’t belong...their behavior is very suspicious.” This racist action was upheld and validated by the police officer who answered the 911 call, saying “the fact that more than one person noticed the strange behavior” after the caller alluded to the possibility that she might be "paranoid", aligning with the idea that white people’s discomfort merits police intervention. Officers were dispatched and the Indigenous students were asked to prove they belonged to the tour; one of them was patted down for weapons. The student later explained that he likes to keep his hands in his pockets because he is shy. We share links to the <a href="https://safety.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/18-758_Redacted.pdf">police report</a>, and a <a href="https://safety.colostate.edu/">statement</a> from the university containing the original 911 call and body cam footage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Similarly, on May 7th, a Black woman graduate student at Yale took a nap at the Hall of Graduate Studies common room to rest after writing a paper. Soon after, a white student, whose identity has been disclosed by the media, scolded the student using the phrase “You're not supposed to be sleeping here. I'm going to call the police” and took pictures of her without permission before calling the police. A friend of the Black woman student recorded this incident and the interaction with the police, which can be found <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/09/us/yale-student-napping-black-trnd/index.html">here</a>. We share a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/yalebgn/posts/1971785923132086">statement</a> by the Black Graduate Network at Yale. At the time of writing, the university has not issued an official statement on their website.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These two incidents are coupled with many other racist calls to the police primarily against Black individuals at establishments like Starbucks, AirBnB, Grand View Golf Course, Nordstrom, Barneys, Walmart, Waffle House, and even public parks -- many of which have resulted in emotional and physical violence against these individuals. These are only a few examples of many incidents against people of color - especially Black folks - in this country, which often go unreported or without media attention. Make no mistake, these incidents do not happen in a vacuum, but are the continuation of centuries of systemic racism and over-policing of communities of color, and the over-surveillance of Black and Indigenous bodies in predominantly-white spaces. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As summer arrives, new Black and Indigenous students prepare themselves to move to new settings, either to join graduate or REU programs. The signatories urge you to step up your commitment to their safety. A few recommendations for white colleagues include:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Recognize that it is your duty to ensure that Black and Indigenous members of your scientific communities feel safe, protected and included - and take immediate action to protect them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have conversations in your departments and research groups about the implications of white folks calling the police on people of color, which may result in their incarceration and violent (often lethal) action against them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have conversations with your white students and colleagues about situations that can endanger Black and Indigenous students, such as the use of alcohol and drugs at parties, jokes surrounding the use of these substances in the context of racist and anti-Black narratives, etc. - because, if police officers are dispatched, Black and Indigenous students will be treated differently from their white peers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Call upon existing campus resources - such as a multicultural center, counseling services, or an office of “diversity” and inclusion - to facilitate these conversations.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Invest time and funding to provide workshops on implicit bias, racism and anti-Blackness, by qualified facilitators on campus and beyond.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Be aware of the implications of requiring Black and Indigenous students to stay in the office after hours, and of any activities that may result in these students having to stay or move around campus after hours.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Find resources for Black and Indigenous students so they can equip themselves with tools to help them stay safe. Be sure you consult with experts versed in anti-racism and anti-Blackness to guarantee that such training avoids causing harm to these students.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Make sure your Black and Indigenous students have direct access to people on campus with authority that they trust, and to attorneys paid by the university, who can help them on a very short notice in situations involving police officers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Educate yourself about the root of the problem -- colonialism, the genocide of Indigenous people, the enslavement of Black folks -- and their connection to mass incarceration, police brutality, and over-policing of Black and Brown people in communities of color and in predominantly white spaces today.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Work towards earning the trust of your Black and Indigenous students and colleagues through concrete actions, not just words.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hold your institutions accountable when policies in place are insufficient, and when calls for the protection of Black and Indigenous members are dismissed.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We add resources below and welcome input from the community to improve the above recommendations and to supply additional links to resources (below). Thank you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Signatories,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Profe Jorge Moreno</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dr. Keith Hawkins</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Professor Jillian Bellovary</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prof John Johnson</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dra. Nicole Cabrera Salazar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dr. Lia Corrales</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Charee Peters</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prof. Kathryne J. Daniel</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prof. Adam Burgasser</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prof. Aparna Venkatesan</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dr. Jacqueline Faherty</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prof. Kim Coble</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The above signatories are members of the AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (<a href="https://csma.aas.org/">CSMA</a>). This statement reflects our own personal views, and is not an official statement by the CSMA nor the AAS.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Resources:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://blackyouthproject.com/tag/anti-blackness/">Black Youth Project: Anti-Blackness</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://medium.com/@chanda">Fighting Scientists with Science (essays on Medium)</a> (Prof. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/07/alternatives-instead-of-police/">Five Times communities of color have used alternative healing practices instead of calling the police </a>(Marisa Cherry)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://theestablishment.co/on-police-brutality-who-are-we-to-believe-43b010dfa9a1">On police brutality, who are we to believe?</a> (Shaun Scott)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://mamademics.com/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-why-white-moms-need-to-care-about-murdered-black-children/">Out of sight, out of mind: Why white moms need to care about murdered Black children</a> (Danielle Slaugher)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.splcenter.org/reporthate">Southern Poverty Law Center Report Form</a></span><br />
<a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Southern Poverty Law Center Hate Map</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_Y0LwX0uOz-P63FVhV0OFkDObbBXcy16YPOcsqnBqto/edit">What to do instead of calling the police</a> (Aaron Rose)</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-28513310673856117922018-04-30T13:33:00.003-07:002018-04-30T13:33:51.629-07:00Donations for NSBP<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear community,</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129;"> We urge you to donate to help the National Society of Black Physicists pay their debt. </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129;">Today is the last day to help <a href="https://nsbp.org/">NSBP</a> meet a significant deadline. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the NSBP debt relief fund. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To donate, visit this <a href="https://nsbp.org/support-nsbp/debt-retirement-campaign?platform=hootsuite">website</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you!</span></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-70075351327874561262018-04-30T11:20:00.001-07:002018-04-30T11:20:22.888-07:00Postdoctoral Opportunity<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE IN VENUS OR MARS SCIENCE, WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">*We thank <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/lynnae-c-quick">Dr. Lynnae C. Quick</a> for bringing this advertisement to our attention*</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Wesleyan University Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Planetary Sciences Group is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate for one of two potential projects to work under the direction of Prof. Martha Gilmore. The funds will be available July 1, 2018 for two years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Venus Surface Mineralogy - we seek someone with expertise in geomorphology, remote sensing and mineralogy to undertake analysis of radar properties of the Venus surface to constrain the origin and composition of tessera highlands and the lowland plains materials. We will also examine chemical changes in relevant minerals exposed to Venus conditions using a number of analytical techniques.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mars Geochemistry and Spectroscopy - The project is to create a series of Mars analogue brines and precipitate them under terrestrial and martian conditions in a Mars chamber. VNIR spectra of the precipitates will be collected in situ and compared to data collected by CRISM in</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mars orbit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Planetary Sciences Group comprises 6 core faculty, 7 affiliated faculty and postdocs across the sciences and offers both graduate and undergraduate planetary curricula.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/planetary"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.wesleyan.edu/planetary</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Wesleyan University is in Middletown CT, a New England college town midway between New York and Boston.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To apply:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://careers.wesleyan.edu/postings/6316"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">https://careers.wesleyan.edu/postings/6316</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Questions: Prof. Martha Gilmore, mgilmore@wesleyan.edu</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Applications will be reviewed as they are received.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439648090514335050.post-30284023534073922582018-04-19T12:26:00.001-07:002018-04-23T21:25:06.553-07:00Congratulations to Dr. Isler and Dr. Prescod-Weinstein<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We at Astronomy in Color wish to extend our congratulations to <a href="http://jedidahislerphd.com/">Dr. Jedidah Isler </a>and <a href="http://www.cprescodweinstein.com/">Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein</a>, who have accepted faculty positions at Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Isler is an observational astronomer with expertise on blazars, is a Senior TED Fellow and is the creator of Vanguard in STEM. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein is a theoretical astrophysicist with expertise in cosmology and philosophy of science, and is an activist and a leader in efforts to decolonize physics and astronomy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We also strongly encourage the community to ensure that these two freshly-minted Assistant Professors receive the support they deserve, and to work hard so we can collectively create the conditions so that other folks following their paths can also thrive.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43ngh36R-xS9zxEWTr0JWYCWlqm1d4Vtej_ymfZYMp2VfLFZLtXXbjlc2DZ09-gaZJB2xS_SthQPFP5Slwq4BcU1PX4WSLSgmo4PcbIyXPnRs6SpJWP7ni85a73cFXuBCgJSaejGg4Lw/s1600/jedidahchanda.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1474" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43ngh36R-xS9zxEWTr0JWYCWlqm1d4Vtej_ymfZYMp2VfLFZLtXXbjlc2DZ09-gaZJB2xS_SthQPFP5Slwq4BcU1PX4WSLSgmo4PcbIyXPnRs6SpJWP7ni85a73cFXuBCgJSaejGg4Lw/s400/jedidahchanda.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Left: Dr. Jedidah Isler. Right: Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein.</span></td></tr>
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