Postdoctoral Fellow Highlight: Dr. Lia Corrales

Cross-posted, with permission from Astronomy in Color

Dr. Lia Corrales, Postdoc at MIT
Recipient of the Einstein Prize Fellowship

Dr. Lia Corrales is currently a postdoc at MIT Kavli Institute, and will be taking an Einstein Fellowship to University of Wisconsin-Madison in Fall 2016. She received her Ph.D from Columbia University, where she was a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow, studying astrophysical dust with high energy light. She received her bachelor's degree in Physics from Harvey Mudd College and was born and raised in San Diego, CA.

This interview is part of a series of posts on the Astronomy In Color blog dedicated to recognizing achievements by outstanding astronomers of color. Feel free to contact Jorge Moreno (jorgemoreno AT cpp.edu) if you know any other person of color in astronomy who has recently won an award or made any other accomplishment.

Student Highlight: Moiya McTier

Cross-posted, with permission from Astronomy in Color

Moiya McTier (Harvard '16)

Recipient of the 2016 Chambliss Award

Biography 

Meet Moiya McTier, recipient of the 2016 Chambliss Student Achievement Award. This award is granted every year by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) to recognize exemplary research by undergraduate and graduate students. Moiya is currently a senior at Harvard University. She won this award for her work on determining exoplanet habitability using orbital eccentricity. She conducted this research last summer, when she was a member of the Harvard Banneker Institute.  This work ties directly to her senior thesis, a science fiction novel set on the planet she studied, which she eventually hopes to get published.  After graduation, Moiya plans to get her PhD in astrophysics and, if she still has any energy left, a master’s degree in medieval European folklore.

This interview is the first of a series of posts on the Astronomy In Color blog dedicated to recognizing achievements by outstanding astronomers of color. Feel free to contact Jorge Moreno (jorgemoreno AT cpp.edu) if you know any other person of color in astronomy who has recently won an award or made any other accomplishment.

Astronomy in Color

A group of astronomers started a new blog last week: Astronomy in Color.  The blog consists of members of the astronomy community committed to increasing diversity by recognizing, confronting and removing the barriers to racial equity and inclusion. They are committed to an intersectional feminist approach combined with a framework of cultural materialism to understand the past and present repercussions of systemic oppression of marginalized groups on our ability to study the Universe.

Astronomy in Color kicked off the blog with two great posts.  One which is an introduction to the lingo of the social justice movement with definitions of commonly used social justice vocabulary words.  The second is a statement of support for Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas high schooler who was arrested for bringing a home-made clock to school.  

We at the Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, and the Women in Astronomy Blog are very excited at the formation of Astronomy in Color, and look forward at ways to collaborate and support each other in increasing inclusion and equity in the Astronomy community.