By: Libby Fenstermacher
In our popular Career Profile series, the AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy has compiled dozens of interviews highlighting the diversity of career trajectories available to astronomers, planetary scientists, and those in related fields. In a twist on this series, we video-interviewed students in astronomy and astrophysics to highlight their personal and academic career paths. The purpose of this series is three-fold. It aims not only to give a voice and exposure to those who are up and coming in the field but also to give feedback to the Astronomical community at large about the experiences of students who identify as women. The hope is that these interviews will not only share advice and lessons learned but will shed light on how to encourage and inspire more women, from various backgrounds and skill sets, to follow space trajectories, and reach towards the stars.
This July, I’m thrilled to introduce Natasha Patel, an Astronomy and Astrophysics Major and Mathematics and Computational Sciences minor at Schreyer Honors College at Penn State and Penn State Eberly College of Science. Natasha is already making waves in the Astro world. She is an outreach and research assistant with the McEntaffer Group and just last semester held an incredible internship at the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre in Gujarat, India, an institution foundational to India’s scientific outreach and space education efforts.
Natasha speaks openly about overcoming academic and personal challenges, staying grounded in her passion for the cosmos, and advocating for greater representation of women in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Her insights are deeply inspiring, and I can't wait for you to hear them.
This interview was filmed in the Summer of 2024.
Watch The Full Interview Here: https://youtu.be/qM3z988i7qs
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| Photo: Natasha Patel |
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| Photo: Natasha Patel |
Interview Transcript:
Libby: Hi everybody. Thank you for joining me today. My name is Libby Festermacher and I'm here today with Natasha Patel, and she's here to tell us a little bit about being a woman and a student in astronomy and astrophysics. So, thanks so much for being here today. Would you like to share a little bit about your background?
Natasha: Sure. Hi everyone. I'm Natasha. I'm currently an international student. So, I'm from India. I'm a Schreyer Scholar at Penn State and yeah, I'm an avid hiker. I love the outdoors. Which makes sense that I got into this major. But yeah, I'm a very outdoorsy person. I love hiking. I love dancing and I'm from India.
Libby: Awesome. What inspired you to choose a path in astronomy and astrophysics in the first place?
Natasha: The fact that it has stuck with me. I was introduced to the topic of astrophysics in second grade by my teacher, and the conversation she had with us kind of stuck with me throughout high school as well. And I just knew it was something that I wanted to pursue, and the fact that it constantly challenges me. I like that. Second grade is oh man, I have so many memories from that year too, and all the inspiration I garnered from that year as well.
Libby: So hats off to our second-grade teachers for their inspiration. What about astronomy excites you? What kept you interested in studying it?
Natasha: Mostly because there's just so much to study. There isn't going to be a day when you're like…Oh, like I'm sorry. I'm I might be fumbling, but today, if I'm studying about dwarf galaxies and I'm kind of bored with the topic, there's always going to be something new for me to pick up tomorrow. And I'm that kind of person who constantly needs new things. And I felt like astrophysics just has so much potential that it excited me. And again, the fact that it challenged me, it's very exciting. And I don't know, it just keeps it keep me going.
Libby: Yeah, it's never-ending. There's always something new to study because we don't know. I mean, I feel like we're just on the precipice of knowing anything about the universe.
Natasha: Exactly. No matter how much you study, you're just never going to be able to understand how it truly works. Yeah.
Libby: So speaking of challenges, what about astronomy is challenging to you and what have you done to overcome those challenges?
Natasha: For me, it was majorly the aspect of physics because it's just such a daunting subject to many, and it was a very daunting subject to me in high school as well. But I feel like the best thing I did and I'm still trying to do, is just go blindly into it because I know I'm passionate about it. And yeah, and I feel like just diving in and just knowing that your passion is going to fuel you. I feel like that.
Libby: That's excellent advice because if you have that passion, it'll get you through any hurdle that you might come up against, I believe. What do you think is a common misperception about the field and the educational path in general?
Natasha: When it comes to the educational path, I believe that there aren't many opportunities in astronomy itself. And I did face that going into my first year in university. I was very scared because I never really got the opportunity to explore the field. And I feel like that happens because many people feel that astronomy as a subject isn't important enough. Well, like I mean, they don't realize the importance of it from like the GPS, which you use day-to-day, right? And so that's one thing the importance of astronomy and the second thing would be that many people consider it as a solo pursuit and they would be very wrong to say that just in my first year just solving homework sets it's not a solo pursuit it's 12 of us sitting together and that's how I imagine like actual astronomers and astrophysicists out there writing papers and that's like the first thing our professors told us as well. If there's anything in astronomy that you need to know properly, is teamwork and cooperation because there's just so much of it.
Libby: Yes. There's absolutely a misperception of the lone genius within astronomy and astrophysics.
Natasha: Exactly. And it's absolutely the opposite of what's really going on.
Libby: So, just know if you're watching this, if you have an interest in studying astronomy or astrophysics, it's definitely a team venture, and you're going to have lots of cooperation and lots of teamwork to look forward to.
Natasha: I agree. Many people have your back.
Libby: Yeah, totally. So, what are you currently working on? What are your projects or goals?
Natasha: I'm currently a second-year student, so I'm just starting to go out there and dip my feet into a little bit of everything that's going on. And I was just completing some physics summer classes. I had an internship lined up at the Vikram Sarabai Community Science Center here, which, is the founding father of the Indian Space Research Organization, who also opened up the science community center as a goal to propel science education, and I was really fortunate enough to get an internship there. So that was my very recent project. And I'm also working on a project called RISE back in back at Penn State with the McEntaffer group, where we're promoting…it's rockets for inclusive science. And so we're promoting knowledge about rockets and building rockets and launching them amongst, underprivileged children. And so yeah, I've always been on the side of science with service as well, since that's like my main goal.
Libby: Yeah. Awesome. What great advocacy work, and that's amazing that you got to be involved in that in India, and being able to encourage the next generation through that work is probably really inspiring. What are your near-future plans then?
Natasha: Well, next semester would be my near future plan, and I'm hoping to get a little bit of hands-on work done that would be through research and getting involved. I'm excited to get to know about astrophysics instrumentation and getting into fabrication labs, perhaps. So yeah.
Libby: Neat. So where do you see yourself by the time you're 80? What are your aspirations? Daunting question.
Natasha: I feel like my main aspiration, even as I was studying and just getting to know a little bit of astronomy in India, was to bring the concept back to India because India is one of the pioneering countries for astronomy. It has laid down so many of the mathematical and physical foundations that go behind the subject but it goes unnoticed especially amongst the Indian youth and I would be one of them and so I definitely want to bring it back because the second I told everybody in my house that this is what I wanted to pursue even the adults were confused about what the subject truly was and so that would be my main aspiration to bring it back to become I don't know to be more advocate about it.
Libby: I love that. I can't wait to see what you do and yeah, India has such a hold right now in the space race, too. It's exciting to see everything that's being accomplished. What advice would you give to someone considering a trajectory similar to yours?
Natasha: I would say just don't be scared. Like I feel like every moment in this major, it's especially with me I have been scared and that's what's going to keep you going at times but just never forget like why you started it. Every time I go out in the night sky stargazing, whenever I spot a constellation, I say an interesting fact to my family. They look at me in pure amazement and that's just yeah I feel like that's what keeps me going because we're in this beautiful world and there's a quote by Carl Sean that I don't remember word for word but it's just it's the picture of Earth from the Cassini satellite that's taken from Saturn and we're just a little pale blue dot and Carl Sagan quotes that you know just look that's our home and I feel like just yeah just always have an idol to look up to as well cuz that's very important.
Libby: Yeah. Having that cosmic consciousness and that cosmic awareness, kind of like putting the earth into perspective, really probably helps fuel that passion.
Natasha: Definitely. Yeah.
Libby: Did you receive any mentorship along your way and if so, what is some guidance you have garnered?
Natasha: Like I said, very little scope in astronomy in high school practically had no mentorship. But yeah, I would, so then I would just consider Google to be my mentor. And so I would say research as much as you can, look into ongoing programs in the university you want to go to. Even as a high schooler, I realized there was so much I could have gotten involved in, and citizen science projects. That would be the biggest thing I could give cuz you can get started on it early. You can understand what's happening.
Libby: Yeah. Yeah. NASA has that exoplanet watch citizen science project. It does. Yeah, I definitely recommend anybody look into getting involved. If you maybe don't have the time to study astronomy or astrophysics, it's definitely a way to be involved nonetheless. Yeah. What, if any, changes for women would you like to see in astronomy?
Natasha: In astronomy and astrophysics, and in particular, the larger part of STEM itself, I would like to see more opportunities because I mean women are mostly disheartened and discouraged by many around them, unnoticed and unknowingly as well, because of the structural bias that is in the system of STEM, right? It's commonly known as a male-dominant field, which just disheartens many of us from actually just diving into the field, no matter how much it actually excites us. And I would say more opportunities, and I feel like it goes from the side of the person as well like just dive into it just you will figure it out, and from the perspective of like a third person, definitely more opportunities and creating that safe environment, because it's just that environment is so important. And it goes by it goes by unnoticed, right? Like people don't think people don't think it's important enough, but it's so important to have that environment where one can speak their mind and one can pursue what they want to. So change of that environment definitely, and yeah, I feel like that's the way to get rid of the structural bias in a certain way as well.
Libby: Great answer. There's been so much progress for women within these fields within the last 50 years or so, but there's still a long way to go and with people like you leading the way, I think that more progress will definitely be made sooner than later. So thank you so much. Now we're going to take a little curveball here. What is your favorite movie or TV show?
Natasha: Gilmore Girls is definitely my go-to for fall. Like the moment it's fall, I need Gilmore Girls on. Otherwise, I do love Indiana Jones as well. Have you seen the new movie? It's very bad. It's I'm not a fan of the recent movie. I like the classics. Yeah. Hardcore hardcore fan of the classics.
Libby: Awesome. He definitely, Indiana, definitely propelled an adventurous spirit with inside of me. Well, is there anything else that you would like to add? Thank you so much again for being here today.
Natasha: Thank you so much for having me. This was a wonderful experience.
Libby: Yeah, this has been so enlightening, and I can't wait to share your story, and I hope that it inspires others.
Natasha: I hope so too.
Libby: I look forward to hearing about your story, and I will talk to you soon.
Natasha: See you soon.
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| Photo: Natasha Patel |
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