TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Rachel Nere

Today's TAURUS Scholar Spotlight is on Rachel Nere, who is pursuing her degree in physics at the University of Massachusetts Boston.  This summer, Rachel is working with NASA Hubble Fellow Dr. Arianna Long on understanding the colors of distant galaxies that will be measured soon with the James Webb Space Telescope.  Arianna sat down with Rachel to learn more about her passion and motivation.

AL: Please tell us more about you. What's your story?

RN: I'm from the Greater Boston Area, and I went to school there my entire life. I'm a first generation Haitian American and also a first-gen soon-to-be college graduate. I grew up reading every book I could get my hands on about astronomy and physics. So I went to college to study those things. I ended up transferring a few times because I wasn't getting the support I needed from other schools, or in a personal sense. But I’m now at a school where I’ve gotten the support I needed to pursue a career in physics and astronomy. That made a huge difference in my career trajectory and in my confidence in doing the work. I took every opportunity I had, even if it wasn't astronomy or physics based, to get experience until I could get the experience in the field which fulfilled a childhood dream of mine. Those experiences solidified that I wanted to pursue research in a doctoral program after I graduate. I'm studying physics at UMass Boston, and I have an English minor with a certificate in quantum information.

AL: What inspired you to pursue a career in astronomy?

RN: I was six years old playing in my backyard with my dad and siblings when I looked up into the sky at night and wondered what made the Universe tick. From that moment on, it made me want to be an astronomer/astrophysicist and it made me fall in love with the night sky. I've wanted to pursue astronomy and physics ever since.

AL: What are you most proud of?

RN: The first thing I thought of was my Hot Science Summer proposal. HSS was a crowd funded project sponsored by VanguardSTEM to give Black and brown women / gender minorities the chance to do science the way they want to. I was part of the inaugural group and I got to do observations at the Maria Mitchell Observatory in Nantucket, Massachusetts with this funding. I was also part of the inaugural class for the Quantum Information Certificate in my school (there is a big push for QI education in the U.S.); it was really fun to do. Also all of the research opportunities I've gotten, both in school and outside of it; they motivated me and gave me the confidence to keep going in science, and I'm proud of myself for that. It makes me see how everything is interconnected, and how beautiful all of it is. 

AL: What mentors, teachers, or role models have been the most important to you in your life?

RN: Professor Stephen Arnason, Professor Mohamed Gharbi, Professor Alioscia Hamma -- they were the first professors that truly believed in me, gave me guidance on what I needed to do to be better, and gave me support when I transferred to UMass Boston. They also have a hand in giving / introducing me to a bunch of opportunities in physics. Rudy Montez Jr. and Sophia Sanchez-Maes -- they were my first official research advisor and STEM mentor from last summer; they gave me a lot of support, cheered me on, understood me, and were very kind, and patient with me, especially during a global pandemic. And of course you (Arianna) and Quang (UT grad student) -- because you guys are such good humans, supportive, kind, real, uplifting, and understand all aspects of what makes me, me.

AL: Ah well it's a pleasure! What challenges and obstacles have you faced in your career? How have you overcome these challenges?

RN: A lot, to put it in short. Genuinely. I don't feel comfortable mentioning most of it, but some points did push me to do / pursue things that I wouldn't have otherwise. For example, I had one of my friends pass away right when we were both accepted into the internship from last summer. I almost didn't accept it, but when I heard the news I decided otherwise because who am I to reject it when she was so excited for it. I did it for the both of us. I ended up wearing a t-shirt dedicated to her every single week in the program when I was with the other students so it felt like she was there with us. Experiences like that pushed me to do things I never thought would happen, or meet amazing people and get the support I need to keep going in academia and in my personal life.

AL: What advice would you give to high school and undergraduate students of similar background to you who are interested in following your path? What’s one piece of advice you wish you had when you started your STEM journey?

RN: I'd say, say yes to everything, take every opportunity you can. Feeling like you're not smart enough is a common feeling. Almost everyone has that feeling of not being enough for something, but you have to remind yourself that it's not true. You are more than smart enough and you should therefore go after whatever that thing is. You never know what you don't know until you take that thing (class, opportunity, etc.). Also, ask ALL THE QUESTIONS because there's probably someone who has the same question, and lots of people love questions. Part of learning is to ask questions. It also helps breed your own curiosity, and curiosity is part of what keeps science and the world going.

AL: What else are you passionate about?

RN: I'm passionate about music, I listen to a lot of different genres. I play the violin and piano. I also love dancing (hip hop, contemporary, bachata, salsa, kompa, afrobeats). I like to write poetry and sometimes short stories. I like reading, mostly mystery and fantasy. I watch a lot of anime and K-dramas, and I read manga. And I enjoy spending time with good people, friends, and loved ones.

AL: Anything else you want people to know about you?

RN: I used to be a video game addict! I still have admiration for video games; my favorite one will always be Kingdom Hearts. 

TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Destiny Howell

The third TAURUS Scholar Spotlight of the year is all about Destiny Howell.  Destiny comes to UT from Hunter College in New York City where she's a rising senior.  She's doing research this summer on brown dwarfs with Dr. Yifan Zhou, a 51 Pegasi B Fellow in the Astronomy Department.  Yifan recently sat down with Destiny to get to know her better.

YZ: What made you interested in the TAURUS program?

DH: There are many reasons. I like that the TAURUS program caters to students from minority backgrounds. This program creates a safe space for me and lets me feel comfortable doing what I am passionate about. I am also fascinated by the McDonald Observatory. In fact, I will visit there in a few weeks. I am really excited about it.

YZ: That’s awesome! I guarantee that you’ll see the most beautiful night sky out there. You have been in the program for a few weeks. How’s your experience in these weeks?

DH: I have been doing research as well as attending workshops. These workshops are very informative. I learned a lot of valuable techniques, including how to do research and how to program in python. Coming from New York City, I find Texas a big shock. But I have been feeling comfortable here.

YZ: Have you explored the city of Austin?

DH: Yes! I have made friends with other scholars. We went to downtown Austin, visited the state capitol, and attended a concert. We want to explore more, maybe go rock climbing.

YZ: That’s a lot of fun! We usually chat about our work in our meetings, but I don’t know too much about you outside of work. What do you like to do in your free time?

DH: I like painting, and I sell my artwork. I also do sculpture sometimes. In the past, I also ran track and played volleyball.

YZ: I didn’t know you are an artist. Have you thought about making a painting for our project? Painting a brown dwarf will make an awesome poster.

DH: Yes, that’s a good idea. I’d love to do it.

YZ: Are there any challenges and obstacles you find in your life?

DH: Being a Black woman in a STEM field, I find it difficult to have peers that look like myself. There are also some unhealthy competitions in the field. I have to battle against having self-doubt. But I have great mentors in my universities that offer me a lot of help so I can overcome these obstacles.

YZ: I hope the TAURUS program will give you more strength. I also hope your experience can encourage more people like you to join STEM fields. Tell me about what you like about research.

DH: I like the fact that I am constantly learning new things. I love studying observational data and interpreting the scientific mechanisms behind the data. This research experience also tells me what it is like to be a scientist, which I enjoy.

YZ: Final question, tell me about your plan for the future.

DH: I will go to grad school, but I am still debating between physics, astronomy, or some other related STEM fields. After grad school, I can see myself working at NASA or SpaceX and contributing to the aerospace industry.

TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Alfonso Melendez

Today's TAURUS Scholar Spotlight is on Alfonso Melendez, a rising junior right here at the University of Texas at Austin.  Alfonso is transitioning to an astronomy major and is spending the summer working with Prof. Caitlin Casey and UT graduate student Olivia Cooper on spectra of galaxies taken as part of the Webb Epoch of Reionization Lyman-alpha Survey (WERLS).  Caitlin and Olivia sat down with Alfonso recently to get to know him more.

CC: Please tell us more about you. What's your story?

AM: I'm from San Antonio, lived there until I was 18 and then moved up to Austin for college.  I came to UT as an anthropology major, having a lot of interest in Mayan archeology actually, but after my first semester, I became disillusioned with that field after realizing studying it in practice was a bit different than what I thought it would be.  Astronomy was always an interest of mine in school, but I convinced myself I wasn't smart enough for all of the math and physics involved, but now I guess I'm discovering it's more accessible than I thought. Outside of academics, I've always been into art too, anything where I'm creating, especially painting and drawing.

OC: What inspired you to pursue a career in astronomy?

AM: I have a very clear memory of being in 2nd grade, and we weren't learning anything space related, but I know that 3rd graders were — they had their work on the solar system on display in the hallways of the school.  I remember looking at that work and thinking that I **could not wait** to be a 3rd grader and learn about space too.  This answer might seem juvenile, but space is really cool.  That feeling hasn't gone away from that time in 2nd grade to my time doing research today.

CC: I concur.  I think "space is cool" is honestly the reason we are all here!  What are you most proud of?

AM: My parents are actually undocumented Mexican immigrants, and I was the 3rd child of four, and I was the only person in my family who was passionate about learning.  Family support for education was very limited (my parents dropped their education after the 6th grade in Mexico), so for me to stick with it has been a huge challenge. Especially because I don't have a lot of people to look at for guidance on how to take the next steps. I'm really proud of how far I've made it, and I hope to keep going.  Sometimes I forget how much I've learned to get here.

OC: What mentors, teachers, or role models have been the most inspiring to you in your life?

AM: Well, I was really lucky to have Caitlin as my astronomy professor both last semester and this semester, and I was really excited to be paired with you as my research mentor.  Other than that, we just got out of a mentoring workshop where we were talking about how mentorship can come from peers and not just those senior to us, and that really resonated with me.  So another answer would be: my friends!  I have made some really great friendships here in Austin that I'm so thankful for.  Those are people I can go to anytime about anything; I can find so much comfort there and that keeps me going.

CC: Tell us a bit more about your interest in archeology and astronomy.  There is some interesting cross-over there so we're wondering if your attraction to both fields has some similarities?

AM: These two fields were the ones I was always interested in.  For the longest time I felt they were so different, but then at the same time, there are aspects of each that are similar.  I think I'm drawn to both due to their mysterious qualities.  There's a lot that's unknown about archeological sites that's lost to the past, and astronomy is actually pretty similar in its focus on solving mysteries of the unknown.

OC: They are both history in different ways.

AM: Yes, one history is a bit older than the other of course… billions of years rather than thousands of years!

OC: What challenges and obstacles have you faced in your career? How have you overcome these challenges?

AM: Getting into college was a huge obstacle for me.  In junior year of high school, a friend of mine asked me what my strategy was going to be for college applications and asked how I was going to apply to FAFSA with undocumented parents.  My reaction was "FAFSA, what's that? who's that?" So navigating stuff like that was really hard real time while I was doing it.  Building up the courage to actually go ask for help at my school felt like a huge mountain to climb.  Many times it would have been easier to just pass on some opportunities than take the time to figure it all out, but I'm really glad that I persevered through it to be here today.

CC: What advice would you give to high school and undergraduate students of similar background to you who are interested in following your path?

AM: Stick with it! It just comes down to figuring out how to deal with stuff that's very uncomfortable and unfamiliar to you.  But you'll know if pushing your education is what you want, then you just have to stick with it.  Going through with it can bring on a lot of uncomfortable feelings, but I've tried to keep my eye on the goal, knowing I want to be a part of this world that feels so different from the one I grew up in.  Looking back, I've been able to accomplish a lot and I hope to keep sticking with it.

TAURUS Scholar Spotlight: Courtney Reed

Courtney Reed joins us this summer from Amherst College in Massachusetts where she is a rising junior majoring in physics and astronomy. Courtney is thriving in her first research experience using cosmological simulations to understand galaxy evolution in our galactic neighborhood, the Local Group. She is studying the theoretical formation of extremely dim and extended low-mass galaxies by identifying analogues of a particularly puffy Milky Way satellite galaxy in simulations. She has already identified a promising simulated analogue galaxy, and her research mentor, Dr. Jenna Samuel, is excited to see where her research will take her! Dr. Samuel sat down with Courtney recently to learn a bit more about her background, interests, and outlook on the future.

Courtney has always had an interest in science beginning with stargazing with her father and frequenting the local science museum at home in Pennsylvania. She gravitated towards physics and astronomy after watching the movie Hidden Figures and seeing her own identity as a Black woman in science represented on screen and at NASA. Since then, she has embedded herself into science and advocacy by volunteering at the very science museum where her interests began to introduce younger generations to science, serving on the NAACP Youth Council in high school, and joining the Black Student Union and other groups dedicated to uplifting underrepresented students in STEM at Amherst.

Looking towards the future, Courtney is hopeful that physics and astronomy are changing for the better – she and other TAURUS scholars will bring much needed new perspectives to the field and our collective body of knowledge. Such enhanced representation of traditionally marginalized people will bring with it a diversity of discoveries that are otherwise unexplored. Courtney also looks forward to more culturally conscious advances in astronomy, particularly with regards to respecting Indigenous lands and traditions in where and how we go about our science.

 

Courtney’s academic pursuits aren’t limited to physics and astronomy though. She has a strong interest in the knowledge, ideologies, and hierarchies of race and gender that physicists and astronomers must navigate in their day-to-day scientific work. Recently, Courtney created an inspiring syllabus for a course on how race and identity interact with the formation of knowledge in physics and astronomy, flawlessly interweaving theories of feminist technoscience and epistemology in modern scientific practice.

 

Outside of work, Courtney enjoys baking and running. Her sister got her started with baking, and recently she’s gotten into cake decorating. She was on the track team at Amherst early on in college, but now finds that she enjoys running for fun in her free time more than competing.

 

Courtney acknowledges that the lack of representation of women of color in physics and astronomy is still a challenge, but she is determined to pursue her interests in spite of it. She wants to go to graduate school after college, where she will become one of the fewer than 100 Black women with PhDs in physics and astronomy. Courtney isn’t yet sure what she will do after grad school, but she’s adamant that her main goal for her future is to be happy and use whatever position she has to uplift marginalized people within her community.

TAURUS 2022 is off and running!

 It's such a pleasure to share with y'all that TAURUS 2022 is off and running with another phenomenal year of scholars.  We don't have a picture of them as one big group to share with you yet because we've been playing a bit of tag with one scholar gone one week and one the next, but we'll get the full group up here soon!  We have ten awesome scholars who've joined us in Austin from around the country working on research projects from the youngest planets forming around nearby stars to the most distant galaxies in the Universe.  Stay tuned to this blog for profiles of each scholar over the course of the summer!