When did you first become interested in this topic?
I don’t think it was because of a deep-seated lifelong need to explore magnetism, but it interested me in graduate school as a field of astrophysics that was not well understood and was overlooked due to its complexity.
In terms of astrophysics in general, the summer before my senior year, I did a National Science Foundation research fellowship for students at Arecibo in Puerto Rico, and it was amazing. That’s when I realized I wanted to work on the ISM, when I really appreciated what the ISM was. That was my first full-time research experience, and it was at this amazing facility—both because the telescope is amazing and because you live there on site in these little cottages. The cottage that Jodie Foster was in in the movie contactthere stood my bunk bed.
Was there a certain moment early on when you realized you wanted to become a scientist?
Honestly, I didn’t always want to be a scientist. When I started college, I thought I might double major in biology and English. I really liked biology and I’ve always liked writing, so I thought maybe I’d be a writer.
I’ve always been really interested in everything. Astronomers often say, “Oh, ever since I was a little kid, I absolutely loved space, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up.” And I definitely loved space as a little kid, but I also loved rocks and dinosaurs and lizards. Especially salamanders. If anything, it all started with me looking for salamanders under rocks with my sisters in our backyard in Virginia. It’s just curiosity about nature and a love of science, and that’s what you get to do as a scientist.
Original story reprinted with permission Quanta Magazineeditorially independent publication Simons Foundation whose mission is to advance public scientific knowledge by reporting on scientific achievements and trends in mathematics, physics and biological sciences.