The AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy maintains this blog to disseminate information relevant to astronomers who identify as women and share the perspectives of astronomers from varied backgrounds. If you have an idea for a blog post or topic, please submit a short pitch (less than 300 words). The views expressed on this site are not necessarily the views of the CSWA, the AAS, its Board of Trustees, or its membership.
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Resources for Astronomers Seeking Academic Jobs
Friday, November 22, 2024
AASWOMEN Newsletter for November 22, 2024
Issue of November 22, 2024
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, Ferah Munshi, and Hannah Jang-Condell
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. Crosspost: How can I break into industry if my CV keeps disappearing into a black hole?
2. Space for Students - Part 2
3. Why we need more pride in physics
4. Space Warps is back!
5. IAU PhD Prize
6. 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop Wrap up!
7. Job Opportunities
8. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
9. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
10. Access to Past Issues
An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Nat'l Career Development Month - Part 2
Image credit: cryptojobslist.com |
- How To Avoid a Resume Black Hole in 6 Steps (indeed.com)
- How I killed Resume Black Hole (cryptojobslist.com)
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Space for Students - Part 2
Below is our interview with Latika Joshi, a senior undergraduate Physics and Astronomy major at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, as of Fall 2024. Latika found her path to the stars after being inspired at the age of nine by the movie Interstellar. Taking notice of this newfound passion, her parents quickly signed them all up for the local astronomy club and fervently supported her inquisitive nature. Now, flash forward to the present day, Latika has a foothold in many areas of astronomical research and outreach. Currently, there are two main areas on which she has her focus: gravitational waves and Mars’ trojan objects. This past summer, Latika worked at the MIT LIGO lab in Cambridge, MA, where she participated in a research project concerning the detection of simulated gravitational wave pipelines via a machine learning platform. As well, she has also been working with her Mt. Holyoke mentor, Professor Thomas Burbine, on research regarding the probability of the origins of Mars trojans, a group of objects that share the orbit of the planet Mars around the Sun. Latika currently has a paper in review related to this work. Outside of academics and astronomy, Latika enjoys swimming, playing the piano, and dancing. Notably, she received a diploma in the Indian classical dance Kathak from the National Institute of Kathak Dance in New Delhi, India in 2020, after ten years of training.
Watch the video!
Alvan Clark Telescope at Mt. Holyoke. Image Credit: Latika Joshi. |
feeling so amazed, like, wow, I am looking at Saturn the way it is right now at this very moment. And I remember it was like spinning so fast. You know, it was out of the line of sight in like 2-3 seconds, and we had to readjust the telescope. But it was just such an amazing feeling, you know? And I sort of knew then that this is what I want to do in college, in my life. And yeah, I have. Loved astronomy since then.
Friday, November 15, 2024
AASWomen Newsletter for November 15, 2024
Issue of November 15, 2024
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Sethanne Howard, Hannah Jang-Condell, and Ferah Munshi
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. Career Profile: From NASA Engineer to Aerospace Consultant: Navigating Unexpected Trajectories
2. Nominations for Caroline Herschel Medal due December 2
3. AAS Historical Astronomy Division seeks blog editor
4. Inclusive Classroom Techniques Workshop
5. IAU WiA-EAS EDI talk by Marieta Valdivia Lefort
6. Five postdoctoral scientists receive 2024 For Women in Science award
7. IUPAP invites nominations for Early Career Prize in History of Physics
8. Why did Earth’s first radio message to alien civilizations leave out half of humanity?
9. National Girls Collaborative Reinvented issue on AI
10. ‘We often forget that women have always been involved in science’
11. Job Opportunities
12. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
13. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
14. Access to Past Issues
An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Career Profile: From NASA Engineer to Aerospace Consultant: Navigating Unexpected Trajectories
What were the most important factors that led you to leave astronomy and/or academia?
I had a strong desire to work on NASA Mars missions. Acknowledging my strengths and weaknesses, I felt that I would be most impactful and professionally fulfilled if I applied cutting-edge space research to real life applications. While I enjoyed performing research at the first principles level, what really fascinated me was the gap that exists between the optimal analytic solution and the reality of the universe, and the implications of those differences. For example, in spacecraft navigation the spacecraft may be following the optimal trajectory, but an unexpected solar flare might perturb the trajectory in unmodeled ways. It’s my job to appropriately quantify the uncertainty around that analytic trajectory to capture all the unknown unknowns.
If you have made a career change, what was your age at the time?
I haven’t made a career change, but I did make a major employer change at age 38. I left NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and began consulting.
What has been your career path since you completed your degree?
Following my Ph.D., I immediately went to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. I spent 10 years there working as a deep space navigator, responsible for planning, determining and maintaining spacecraft trajectories so the spacecraft can safely arrive at its intended target. I’ve supported numerous Mars missions, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, InSight Mars Lander, and the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. I also served as the Deputy Principal Investigator for the Deep Space Atomic Clock Technology Demonstration Mission, which advanced space clock technology such that it may be used for spacecraft navigation in the future. Following my departure from JPL, I founded Australis Space Navigation to allow me to continue working on deep space navigation from my new home in
Australia.
What have been particularly valuable skills for your current job that you gained through completing your degree?
The most valuable skill that I gained through my graduate studies extends far beyond my studies: effective communication and being comfortable presenting my work. Communication is often undervalued as a “soft skill”, but I've found it to be my superpower that has undoubtedly played a large part in my professional success. It doesn't matter how good your work is if you cannot tell people about it, and tell them why it matters. The good news is that anyone can learn how to make communication their own personal superpower.
What is your level of satisfaction with your current job?
For better or worse, I am one of those people who really love their jobs. I thoroughly enjoy the technical work, the people I work with, and applying my expertise to real-life space missions. I particularly delight in the nature of spacecraft navigation as it requires me to delve into systems design, analytics models, software design and development, data processing, astrophysics and science. I find it's impossible to grow bored when there's always more to learn.
What are the most enjoyable aspects of your job?
One might expect rocket launches and Mars landings to be my favourite, and those events do rank high on my list. But, hands down the best part of my job is working through challenging technical issues with my talented colleagues. No matter how frustrating it may be in the moment, it's just so rewarding when you work together to design and implement a solution (and it actually works)!
What advice do you have for achieving work-life balance (including having a family)?
It's taken me two kids and moving from full time to part time, but I finally have a healthy work-life balance. My advice is to be realistic and acknowledge that you cannot do everything everywhere all at once. For every commitment, something else has to give. There are times when I'm focusing on my career but my family life is a bit lacking; I counterbalance this with times when I deliberately focus on my family and don't push so hard at work. Sometimes I get to consciously choose which to focus on, but oftentimes life makes that choice for me. The important thing is being cognizant of that balance. I always know the balance is perfect when I feel rewarded in both life and work.
What do you do for fun (e.g., hobbies, pastimes, etc.)?
I try to make time for both music and exercise. My job can be quite stressful, and I find that making music through playing the piano and singing with a community women’s choir provides a venue to focus entirely on something unrelated to my work. Conversely, going for a long run allows me to focus on nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other. Regular practice of both keeps me mentally balanced and more productive at work. I also practice yoga to clear my mind, which gives me greater mental clarity in my work.
Friday, November 8, 2024
AASWomen Newsletter for November 8, 2024
Issue of November 8, 2024
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, and Hannah Jang-Condell
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. Nat'l Career Development Month - Part 1
2. Gender parity in African science
3. Winners announced for 2024 Inspiring Women in Science Awards
4. The Women and Girls in Astronomy Program
5. Editorial: Women in science: astronomy and space sciences
6. University of Michigan Department Earns Physics/Astronomy SEA Change Award
7. Jill Tarter to Receive Inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the Search for Life Beyond Earth
8. Status of Women in Astronomy: Still A Long Way To Go
9. Pioneering Female Astronomer’s Legacy Lives On
10. The Untold Story of Marie Curie’s Network of Female Scientists
11. NASA Citizen Science Program
12. FINESST: SMD’s Graduate Student Research Final Text and Due Date Released
13. Job Opportunities
14. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
15. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
16. Access to Past Issues
An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Nat'l Career Development Month - Part 1
Friday, November 1, 2024
AASWomen Newsletter for November 1, 2024
Issue of November 1, 2024
eds: Jeremy Bailin, Nicolle Zellner, Sethanne Howard, Hannah Jang-Condell, and Ferah Munshi
[We hope you all are taking care of yourselves and each other. --eds.]
This week's issues:
1. Tips for Writing
2. Call for NSF GFRP Reviewers for Astronomy
3. You can count female physics Nobel laureates on one hand
4. Education Workshops
5. Astronomers Turned Data Scientists
6. Martian Cloud Spotting
7. Apply to Write for Astrobites 2024!
8. Particle physicist Rohini Godbole passes away
9. Cosmic conversagion: Celebrating Wpmen in Astronomy
10. A Civil Servant position (permanent) is to be offered by the Heliophysicsand Planetary Science Branch at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
11. December 1st at 11:59pm CET (UTC + 1h) is the deadline for submitting proposals for IAU Symposia to be held during 2026.
12. How to Submit to the AASWOMEN newsletter
13. How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the AASWOMEN newsletter
14. Access to Past Issues
An online version of this newsletter will be available at http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ at 3:00 PM ET every Friday.