I have been an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) since 1987.
STScI carries out the science program of the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA. My
scientific research concerns active galaxies, which are galaxies with unusually luminous
cores that are likely powered by very massive black holes. To understand these objects,
I make observations throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to
infrared-optical-UV light to X- and gamma-rays, using satellite experiments and
ground-based observatories. My work on active galaxies focuses on some of the most
energetic and catastrophic phenomena known in the universe, and in recent years I have
identified one of the principal causes of this extreme activity: relativistic jets
probably formed in the vicinity of supermassive black holes at the heart of active
galaxies.
In addition, I head the STScI Science Program Selection Office, which solicits HST
observing proposals from the international astronomical community and oversees their
review and final selection. We do this on a yearly cycle; last year (1995) we called
for proposals in June, sending out a thick package of documentation on telescope and
instrument capabilities, guidelines for proposing, and additional information. In
response, we received over 1000 proposals by the deadline, September 15. These were
sent to approximately 100 proposal reviewers --- well-known astronomers from all over
the world --- who then met at STScI in November to determine the HST observing program
for Cycle 6 (observing dates July 1996 through June 1997). Letters of approval and
rejection were sent to proposers in December; the approved programs require a second
proposal submission (with much more details about the specific observations), due in
the February/March 1996 time frame. Meanwhile, this January we in SPSO began preparing
for the next cycle, writing documentation (and Web pages) describing the new proposal
procedures.
I have also maintained a long interest in the issue of women in science, and I was the
chief organizer of the 1992 conference on Women in Astronomy which led to the Baltimore
Charter (visit our Web page)
I decided to be an astronomer much later than many of my colleagues --- really not
until I applied to graduate school in my senior year at college. I was always interested
in science, and found physics very challenging, but was also attracted to mathematics and
chemistry (not to mention English, history, languages, ...) Following my junior year at
college (Tufts University), where astronomy was a very minor part of the physics
department, I spent a summer as a student intern at the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia. That was my first real contact with astronomy.
It was there that I learned how interesting and how much fun astronomical research could
be. The people were fun, too. I saw science not as a solitary pursuit but as a group
activity, one that was social as well as rigorous.
The following year, I applied to graduate schools in astronomy and physics, and ended
up planning to go in the fall to the Johns Hopkins University department of physics and
astronomy, probably to pursue astronomy but still perhaps going into high energy physics
or some other field. In the summer before graduate school, I worked with an X-ray
astronomy group at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard. More interesting science,
more fun! This confirmed that when I went to Johns Hopkins, I should look seriously into
doing astronomy. I later got summer jobs at the nearby Goddard Space Flight Center
working with the X-ray astronomy group. This led directly to my thesis research, and
the combined scientific excellence and low-key friendliness of that group is probably
the reason I got through the stresses and pressures of graduate school.
In my experience, college classes, while useful, were never as important as on-the-job
experience. What I know and use now in my work, for example, has completely replaced the
dated information from my early training. The important thing is the approach, and the
constant learning of new skills and constant improvements in understanding.
The most interesting part of the job is learning new things, making progress toward
understanding our universe. Sometimes that gets lost under the day-to-day minutiae, which
can be very absorbing and also at times very boring. But the new thoughts, the new ideas,
the exercising of one's brain --- those are what makes it all worthwhile.
I didn't do anything as a kid, frankly, that prepared me for this job. I enjoyed
school, was always interested in every subject, advanced in mathematics at every
opportunity (which in retrospect, was very important, though I didn't think about it at
the time). I never liked science fiction, unlike many of my colleagues. I liked reading
and writing a great deal, and I think that has helped me in writing scientific papers and
in the communications needed to support the HST project. When I was quite young, in 3rd
grade or so, I read a lot of biographies, including some of famous women --- doctors,
scientists, pioneers. Quite frankly, the hardest part of getting to where I am in my
career today has been developing the confidence that there IS a role for me, for women,
in science, and in overcoming the insidious training I had, as does any girl in our
society, to be a quintessentially female: to be self-effacing, to avoid "bragging," to
support others even at the expense of taking appropriate credit oneself --- all
wonderful, polite things, but very much at odds with the dominant scientific culture
today, at least in the U.S. Reading about successful women, especially in fields where
they had to fight to establish their right to be there, was a great morale boost and a
great support. Finding a few women ahead of me and more in my peer group and even more
coming up behind, has been critical to my staying in astronomy.
My chemistry teacher, Miss Crawley, at Winchester High School in Massachusetts was
very important in attracting me to science in the first place. Before that, science was
probably the least of my interests. Later, as I started college, my parents, and
particularly my father, were extremely influential, suggesting that I take physics
(something I might not have thought to do without a push) and always encouraging me.
In retrospect, my sisters and brother and I were taught as children to think in a
logical, methodical way. I always thought everyone did that! but now I recognize my
idea of "normal" as a very standard scientific approach: what do we know? what are the
options? what further information do we need to find out in order to figure out the
problem? And so on. So my parents really prepared me to be a natural scientist.
I think it's really important to have a life besides a career. I like science a lot,
but it isn't the most important thing. My family is -- I have two adorable daughters,
Amelia, who is almost 5, and Sophia, who is just over 2 years old. I love them more than
it is possible to explain. It's tough to manage the family plus job sometimes, and the
only reason I can is because my husband, who is an astrophysicist at the Goddard Space
Flight Center, is an equal partner in our marriage. To young girls who want a career of
any kind I would say: marry the right guy! I am really surprised sometimes when I hear
intelligent young women agreeing to shoulder the greater part of the burden, agreeing to
subordinate their careers and aspirations to those of the men in their lives, for no
reason other than that is the way it is always done or that is the way their husbands
and boyfriends have assumed it will be. I hope young girls grow up valuing their dreams
and their futures as much as young boys do.
Favorite pasttimes: I get a lot of exercise --- usually on a stationary bike and/or
doing weight lifting, first thing in the morning, before everyone else is up (there isn't
any other free time!). When the weather is nice, we really like to go bicycling. My
husband and I did a lot more before the kids were born, with long rides almost every
weekend. The girls aren't so keen on being taken on long rides, but we still try to get
out when we can. We bought a tandem bicycle and a kiddie trailer, so the four of us often
go as a unit to a nearby state park. We get a lot of stares! I also read a tremendous
amount, mostly current or classic fiction --- we make trips to the library a weekly
family activity. The girls now love reading as much as we do. It's wonderful to watch
Amelia read to her sister Sophia.
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