Meet Dr. Moiya McTier, astronomer, storyteller, and author

Written By: Tiffany Wolbrecht

Photo of Dr. Moiya McTier outside smiling at the camera

Meet Moiya

Dr. Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator based in NYC. She's written a science fiction novel, given hundreds of talks about science around the world, helped design exhibits for the New York Hall of Science, and is currently working on a popular science book about the history of the Milky Way galaxy for Grand Central Publishing. Moiya's favorite way to combine her unique set of expertise is to build fictional worlds based on facts and science, which she does through workshops, classes, and her podcast Exolore. You can learn more about Moiya and her work on her website moiyamctier.com

Why did you choose to study astronomy? 

So many of my astronomy colleagues fell in love with the night sky when they were children. My introduction to the field was a lot more recent and a little less inspired. I found astronomy by chance in my sophomore year of college when a friend asked me to go with her to an introductory astronomy class. I wasn't very interested, but the professor said we'd get free pizza every week, so I registered for the course. By the end of the semester, I thought it was so cool that we could study stars and galaxies and other space phenomena billions of lightyears away without leaving our random little rocky planet.

I don't think astronomy is inherently more exciting or interesting than other fields, but I do appreciate how useful it is for getting other people interested in science. I like to call astronomy a "gateway science" because it's something that pretty much everyone on Earth can experience without training or fancy equipment. And I like to think that once I help people get their foot in the astronomy door, they can't help but take more steps into the room.

What are your aspirations?

Since graduating with my PhD in April, I've been able to pursue science communication full-time, and I feel so much more fulfilled than I ever did as a researcher, so this is definitely what I want to do with the rest of my life. More specifically (because science communication is a broad term), I want to use storytelling and comedy through a media lens to help people better understand the science of the world around them. I want to write books, give talks, host podcasts... and I'm already doing these things! My next big goal is to host my own science-comedy TV show to reach people who wouldn't self-select to attend more traditional outreach events.

Who inspired you?

People ask me this question often, and I feel bad saying this, but the honest answer is that no one inspired me to do what I'm doing. Growing up, I knew I was good at math and science, but I didn't see anyone who looked like me doing it professionally. My only example of a Black lady scientist was B'elanna Torres, a fictional alien Star Trek character. And even today, there are only about 100 black women in the US with PhDs in any physics related field! Since I didn't have any relatable role models back then, I forged my own path through science and into science communication. And when I'm feeling tired or worn out in my work, I'm inspired to keep going by my Black peers who are pushing barriers RIGHT NOW and by the young black girls who don't have to be the first because we broke that barrier for them. The field still has so so so much work to do before it's "fair" or "equitable," but I'm inspired by the people pushing for that progress.

What have you been working on since graduating? 

Right now, I'm finishing up a popular science book about the history of the Milky Way Galaxy, but I'm writing it from the galaxy's point of view as if it's writing its own autobiography. The book is expected to be published in Fall 2022 by Grand Central Publishing. As for what's next... I don't have any concrete plans yet, but I have a lot of stuff in the works. I guess you'll just have to follow me to find out what happens :)

What skills did you gain through completing your degree?

I think the most important skill I learned in my PhD program was the ability to see both the forest and the trees at the same time, to see how the smallest details fit into the larger picture. In the US, a PhD program can take five, six, or more years (my mom took 16 years to finish her PhD in English.) In that time, PhD students are expected to become the world's leading expert in a specific subject, which takes time, and means approaching a single question from as many angles as possible. It's so easy to get lost in the weeds of your research project, but part of earning the PhD is learning to untangle all of your research threads.

Are there any expectations you had about the astronomy field that you have found differed from reality?

I never really intended to be an astronomer, so I never formed expectations about astronomy specifically. But my mom was working on her PhD in English when I was young, so I grew up in the academy. I spent time in college classrooms before I could talk, and I was actually participating in college classes by the time I was 10. So I always thought of academia as a magical place where smart people could learn and share knowledge and let their ideas flourish. I didn't have this word back then, but I expected it to be a meritocracy, and it most certainly isn't.

Now I see that academia favors the privileged, that it isn't available to everyone who wants to access it, and that it's set up in a way that ignores the needs of the very people who can make it great. Application fees, "goodness of fit" conversations in hiring committees, the GRE, opaque hierarchical structures...these are the parts of academia that I didn't expect to face. These are the parts of academia that pushed me out of the field.

What community issues are important to you and why?

The astronomy community has started to reckon with a lot of its issues recently, many of them publicly. Issues surrounding unpunished sexual harassment, lack of diversity and equity, forcing trans scientists to keep their deadnames on scientific publications, grad students living below the poverty line despite the fact that universities literally could not function without grad labor, outdated publishing practices that stifle creativity and perpetuate existing social heirarchies, etc. There are too many issues in the community and they're all important to me because they all affect the way that we can share our science with the rest of the world.

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

Well, first, I would say that everyone's career path is unique, so don't get too hung up on copying anyone else's path precisely. But if you're interested in doing full-time science communication after going through grad school, here are my tips:
1. Figure out your motivation. Why do you want to do scicomm?
2. Find your preferred audience and scicomm style by practicing often! Do you like working with kids or adults? Are you more goofy like Bill Nye or grandiose like Carl Sagan? Are you more comfortable writing or speaking? Look for opportunities to test these out while you're in grad school so you're ready to go once you graduate.