Meet Your CSWA, Jeremy Bailin

Jeremy Bailin is an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama. His research involves galaxy formation using computer simulations, observations in the optical and radio, and phenomenological models. He is particularly interested in the outskirts of galaxies — stellar halos, circumgalactic medium, globular clusters, and satellite galaxies. He teaches courses from introductory astronomy to graduate astrophysics, and is involved in astronomy education research.

Jeremy joined the CSWA in 2019, and is particularly interested in how the CSWA’s mission plays out in university education (particularly in mid-range size institutions, where the most undergraduates encounter astronomy), and in LGBT+ issues.

Describe the first time you made a personal connection with the planets and stars

I grew up in Toronto, which has a lot of light pollution, so the most personal connections I made with the universe were when I moved to Arizona and regularly saw dark skies. There was one evening in particular when I was lying on the porch staring up and seeing the ecliptic as traced by Venus and Jupiter and the recently-set Sun, and for the first time I switched perspectives and truly felt in my mind that I was on a spinning sphere instead of a motionless plane.

How did you end up working in the field?

I stumbled into astronomy kind of by accident during undergrad when I took an astronomy class that was much more interesting than anything else I was taking (I always thought it was interesting but it had never occurred to me as a career). So I switched majors, and then had a fairly traditional career path with grad school, 3 postdocs, and then a faculty position.

Who inspired you?

There is a common theme in who inspires me: people who are aware and open about what they know and what they don't know. In a scientific context, you might say people who have well-calibrated error bars, but I mainly think about it in other contexts.

What is an Associate Professor?

I spend my time doing astronomy research (galaxies and their surroundings), teaching (mainly introductory astronomy for non-majors or grad courses), supervision/mentoring (I currently supervise 3 graduate students and 3 undergrads), and service (both within the university, and beyond such as on the CSWA). The relative amounts of time spent on each vary dramatically from week to week.

What community issues are important to you and why?

Equity in STEM is critical; if we are engaging in science, it is a moral imperative to do it equitably. LGBTQ+ issues are particularly important to me. I am also interested in improving our ability as a community to teach well.

Tell us about a favorite moment so far in your career.

The top one is definitely when my first graduate student defended her PhD dissertation!

What advice would you give to someone who wants to take the same career path as you?

To today's students, now is when you might see structural inequities most clearly but feel like you can't do anything about them. You will be in a position to start addressing them sooner than you think. So make sure you become fully aware of them and have your ideas ready of what you would change.

What do you do for fun?

I love cooking complicated things from scratch. I roast (and drink lots of) coffee. Running. Yoga. Silly programming projects as an excuse to learn new skills. I was once an industrial music DJ, but these days I just dance to it. I'm a compulsive consumer of news, but in 2020 that doesn't really count as "fun".

What are your goals as a part of the CSWA?

A key goal is figuring out how to get the idea that gender equity is (a) important and (b) has not yet been achieved to be understood by the (unfortunately large) fraction of the professional community that doesn’t realize it, since that is a large impediment to making changes. I am also interested in how to make this part of our educational program as a community (for Astro-101 and public outreach).

If you weren’t in the field of astronomy, what would you be doing?

Probably a programmer. Possibly a data scientist or high school science teacher.

What changes would you like to see for women in astronomy?

I would like issues that are brought forward by women and other gender minorities in astronomy to be considered "astronomy issues" on equal footing as issues that are brought forward by men. I would like issues that are brought forward by Black women, indigenous women, and women of color to be considered "astronomy issues" on equal footing. Right now, if astronomers who work in one particular wavelength regime have an issue that prevents them from being successful astronomers, that would be recognized as an "astronomy issue", but if astronomers of a particular gender or a particular race or another minoritized identity or who lie at one or more intersections of these have an issue that prevents them from being successful astronomers, that is seen as a "special interest issue". There will always be issues that we need to face -- even if we solved all of today's problems, new unforeseen situations will arise -- but that's the change that would allow us to deal with issues going forward in a way that enhances rather than undermines justice.