Libby: Hey everybody, thanks for joining me today. My name is Libby Fenstermacher,and today I'm here with Tatum, and she's going to tell us a little bit about her journey in astronomy and astrophysics. So thank you so much for joining me today, and I can't wait to hear your story. So can you tell us a little bit about your background?
Tatum: Of course. So hi everyone. My name is Tatum Umiamaka and I'm currently a senior at the University of Hawaii Manoa where I study astrophysics and computer science. I am originally from Colorado Springs, Co, so I grew up there but moved to Hawaii for college. But of course, Hawaii has always had a special place in my heart. I grew up visiting here all the time to see family and such. So I really was excited to get the opportunity to move here, both for, you know, having a really great astronomy and astrophysics program, but also to get a little more connected to my roots and to spend more time with family. A little about myself outside of school, though. I am an artist. I love to create things I rug make, so. I'm making like Hawaiian quilt design rugs right now, all by hand. So it takes a little while to make those, but they're my stress relief. It's what I do in my free time and it gives me peace of mind a little bit. I'm also really active. I love to surf. I love to do volleyball and everything like that to balance out my life a little bit. But, that's a little about me.
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| Tatum's Hawaiian quilt designs |
Libby: Awesome. I can't wait to see more of your rugs. They're just so cool. So. What inspired you to choose a path in astronomy and astrophysics in the 1st place?
Tatum: Yeah, so my path towards astronomy is not necessarily traditional, I feel, in fact that I came across the field because I found it very hard. So in high school my last two years, so my junior, senior year, I took physics. And physics gave me a lot of trouble. Having to connect math with the science was a little hard for me at first. Using calculus in my science classes, I didn't necessarily feel too comfortable with at that time, and it really frustrated me. So I was set, and I was like, I am going to figure this out. So I decided to maybe consider physics. But then I was talking to my professor and she mentioned that a lot of women end up going into astrophysics or astronomy. So that kind of made me consider astronomy a little bit and then trying to find out where I was going to school. Hawaii was a really good option, especially cause you know, coming back to see family and like rejoin my roots was really interesting to me, so. Manoa has a really good astronomy program, especially cause we're so close to the telescopes. And so that kind of, you know, the two two lines connected and I decided to go for astronomy and astrophysics. I added on computer science just because a lot of what we do in astrophysics is with computers and having those skills is super useful and super important and not a lot of astronomy programs necessarily prepare their students enough. For, you know, a PhD or going to Graduate School at astrophysics if they don't have really strong computer science backgrounds. So I thought that was a good choice and it ended up working pretty well. So yeah, that's kind of how I came to astronomy. It's not like I had it in me from when I was little. It's more because I'm stubborn and determined and I have to understand things.
Libby: So now that you found your way to astronomy, what about it excites you? What's kept you, kept you in?
Tatum: You know, growing up, my dad always watched the Discovery Channel and learning about like the string theory and everything that we don't know in the universe is super interesting to me. And it makes me question a lot of the things that we know and are researching and it's just a super interesting field because it's always developing. We're always looking for the next thing. And what sometimes you don't realize is that the astronomy field also gives us so much like new technologies. You know, it changes the way we think of life as we know it and. It's just a super developed field that I think is just really inspiring. The people in it are also really exciting. Everyone is so passionate about it, which I think is super important. But yeah, it's just a great community to be a part of and it's just overall so exciting to, you know, work towards discovering the next best thing in the universe.
Libby: Yeah, the passion I've discovered from all of the people I've met in the field has been undying and unwavering. It just is, it's so immense because there is so much to discover and it's just so endless. I'm so excited for you. What about astronomy have you found challenging? You mentioned physics, but what have you done to overcome the challenges that you faced?
Tatum: So of course, going into astrophysics or astronomy, you're going to take hard classes. You're basically getting a physics degree with an astronomy concentration a little bit. So you're gonna take all the normal physics classes and then maybe have some more specialized ones for astronomy or computer science, mathematics. So yeah, there's a lot of courses out there, but the main thing I've used to kind of help myself through is remaining rooted in my vision and knowing what I want to do. So if you come to the point where like, you know, you lose track, you're just taking all the classes, like take a deep breath, you know, remind yourself why you're doing this and make a plan. You know, I have a planner and it is my Bible. I love to schedule things, sometimes even by the hour and minute. But you know, just remind yourself that you're here for a purpose. You can get through. Everything will be fine in the end. You'll, you know, you'll make it to the finish line if that's where you want to be. But, you know, remind yourself that you know you're working towards something that's hard, but it's going to feel so good at the end.
Libby: Yeah, absolutely. Something that's been told to me before is when it feels the hardest, it means you're in that learning space. You're in that space between not knowing and knowing, and it's going to be difficult. But then once you reach that end goal, it's all worth all the struggle.
Tatum: It's kind of like in volleyball where, you know, the conditioning and the stages where, you know, you're in the most pain or you're the most tired, that’s going to show you that you can go that far and that you can play at the best of your ability, even when you're tired. And that really translates, I think, to college in general.
Libby: Absolutely. That's a really wonderful analogy. So what do you think is a common misperception about astronomers or astronomy as discipline or career path in general?
Tatum: I think one misperception is that astronomy is just for astronomers. This field is so diverse and there's so many people that are needed in order to make it work. So you need technicians, you need engineers, you need computer scientists, you need even illustrators to realize like theories and perceptions of what we think is true in a visual way so you can present it to an audience to allow people to learn what we're thinking about. You know, so you can be involved in astronomy in so many different ways. And you don't necessarily need to get astronomy or astrophysics degree in order to be a part of the community. For example, I this past year have been going on a lot of graduate visits, and a lot of the people that were on these visits with me weren't necessarily from astronomy. They're from physics, they're from mathematics. And you know, you can succeed in the field still, even if you come from different pathways. Another misperception, I think, is that you. Have to be really good at math and science. Yes, it helps to be traditionally kind of geared towards science and mathematics in the STEM field. But even if you're from, I don't know, if you're more strong in literature or you're more strong in history but you're very interested in astronomy and think you want to go into it, there is definitely a place for you and. You can learn these things over time. You know, no one is good at something by doing it once and you have to work at it. You have to practice, you have to do the homework. So you know, you're gonna eventually be, you're gonna eventually develop those skills and you will get there. I think I'm a good example because I'm an artist. I was traditionally good at writing and not necessarily reading, but art in general. I'm a very artsy person, but you know. Learning about physics and mathematics really interested me. I wasn't good at it, but I kept practicing and now I'm on my way.
Libby: Excellent. You know, as a social scientist, there's also ways to work within astronomy. There's even PhD routes I've seen through universities in Australia, that specialize in indigenous astronomy or like the Anthropology of Astronomy. So there's so many routes that people can take. As I said before, it's endless.
Tatum: It's a very big field. Yeah.
Libby: So what are you currently working on? You're just about to graduate.
Tatum: Yeah, so I'm graduating in a couple of days actually, but I just actually submitted my first author paper with my mentor, Dr. Joshua Barnes. And this paper studies the effects of Halo anisotropy in the mergers of disk galaxies. So we use N-body simulations to visualize mergers of disk galaxies with anisotropic dark halos and specifically studying their orbit decay in tidal features and material. So I'm really excited about that project and now we're in the reviewing process, so we'll cross our fingers to see if we can get that published soon. But this past summer I was also a part of the Akamai Internship program, which is a program geared towards students studying at or studying in Hawaii or from Hawaii to get them introduced to local STEM companies in order to get them kind of a job in the future. So I was lucky to be a part of this program and I got connected to the W Keck Observatory where I am working with my mentor Dr. Charlotte Guthrie and there I am doing some software development. I'm a adaptive optics software engineer intern, so. I'm rewriting some of their old calibration scripts that were in IDL. We want to convert them to Python and update the system, make them more modular to, you know, increase code reuse, make it more understandable for people to read the code and yeah, just use overall in the future. So that is an ongoing thing for me. So I'm really fortunate to have gotten connected to the Keck Observatory. The people there are my favorite people in the entire world. Their passion and their kindness just really gave me hope for this field and makes me really want to be a part of this community in the future. So hopefully I will make my way back to Hawaii and hopefully join an observatory to better astronomy in Hawaii and just, you know, inspire everyone as they've inspired me.
Libby: Wonderful. Everyone at Keck that I've met has been just so, once again, welcoming and so smart, and they really stand up for science there and the community. So, I'm stoked that you get to go back and be a part of them, and their work again. It's really wonderful. So, what are your near future plans after that? Where are you going after Keck this summer?
Tatum: Yeah, so I was fortunate enough to get into a grad program. So I'll be working my way over to Pasadena in California where I'll be a PhD student at the California Institute of Technology, so Caltech. So I'm hopefully going to better instrumentation at Tech and both around the country, working with some professors over there. But I'm super excited to be going over there. It's a super great university, and I'm just really excited for the opportunities that will get me in the future.
Libby: So, Speaking of the future, what are your aspirations? Like what do you see your yourself having accomplished by the time you're 80?
Tatum: I think my biggest why right now of what I'm doing, what I'm doing and where I want to go in the future is coming back to Hawaii to go to school has really transformed me and really developed my identity and I definitely want to be back here. Especially helping the astronomy community be more rooted a little bit and connecting, you know, the Hawaiian people a little more with the astronomy community. Historically there's been some division, but my dream is to, you know, let these two communities coexist and thrive with each other and… I was doing some reflecting and so I'm taking a course called Pacific Worlds at UH and during this course we learned about wayfinding and how ancient people or people from Oceana or like ancient Hawaii used the waves to guide them through the ocean and to find the next island and how they did this is you study the waves and when an island is near, the waves will tell you by like diffraction patterns and how they're coming off of these islands. And so when I was learning about this, I was like, that's exactly kind of what we do in astronomy. You know, we studied light waves and by like studying the lights and its wave, we know what's out in the universe. So just connecting those two worlds of using ocean waves and using light waves, I think is, you know, connecting indigenous knowledge systems with modern knowledge systems, I think is super important and very interesting. So that's just what I kind of want to do in the future is connect the two communities and find a way where we can exist cohesively and learn from each other.
Libby: Beautiful. It's genius. I love that connection because it makes total sense. So I think that's a really great way of bridging that gap. What advice would you give to someone considering a trajectory similar to yours or wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Tatum: The biggest point of advice I would give is it's okay to step out of your comfort zone and it's needed. No one does great things when they're comfortable. You have to take a risk and you have to challenge yourself. But you also have to know when to stop as well. Don't burn yourself out, take time for yourself, make sure you have a balanced life. Physical and mental health is very important in order to do well academically. And as much time you put towards school, put time towards going outside, going to the beach, going on a hike, you know, having a well-rounded life will make you so much happier and allow yourself to actually learn more, for sure. Umm I like to exercise in the morning cause it engages my brain really early and so by the time I am in my class, my brain is fully awake. I can absorb everything that I'm learning and then I go to sleep later. But that balance towards taking care of myself and towards, you know, learning and going to my classes is super
important for me and has allowed me to do a lot in my career, so. I think those two points, taking care of yourself as well as you know knowing when to push yourself and yeah, just to be better is super important.
Libby: That's really great advice, but did you receive any mentorship or advice yourself along your path? And what is the most important guidance that you think that you've received?
Tatum: So I've had so many mentors, some more traditional than others. So the professors that I've done research with at the university as well as Keck Observatory have given me a lot of support throughout my journey and, you know, pushing, pushing myself, pushing my abilities. Doctor Barnes really pushed me to, you know, publish a paper, which I'm super thankful for. And some of the other mentors I've had, you know, pushed me to. Learning stuff that's outside of the classroom that's super important in the field, like how to manage your time, how to, you know, kind of fold your tongue, asking a question to try and figure out yourself first. That has been super helpful in my career, as well as, you know, non-traditional mentors who have really taught me to know my purpose and to push myself and be passionate about what I do and my purpose and not look back. Just once you make your decision, full force, you know, and just do it. That's probably the the biggest thing that I am following right now is, you know, don't look back, just go forward and see where it takes you.
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| Tatum Umiamaka |
Libby: Yes. Commit to the course and see what happens. What, if any, changes would you like to see for women in astronomy?
Tatum: I think one of the biggest changes is equal representation and of course equality. I think it's super important to have a woman on graduate panel. More women in, you know, important positions in the in the astronomy community. I think sometimes that you know. Women can kind of, because we're not the dominant force in the field, we can kind of feel that we don't belong. But knowing that, you know, we deserve to be here and this feeling that we don't belong isn't because of us. You know, we have always belonged and we will always belong. So I think that's the biggest thing for me. I'm kind of getting some hope now cause I'm seeing just more and more women come into the field. A lot of underclass, a lot of the underclassmen below me are women. And so it's just very inspiring. And even like my peers, just seeing them develop and you know, are going to graduate schools, it gives me a lot of hope for us in the future, but I still think there's a lot of work that needs to be done. But it's changing slowly, but it's changing.
Libby: Yeah, even just the diversity of women that I've interviewed in this series has been really awesome to see that anybody can enter the field. And I really hope that that message resonates with our viewers out there. So total curveball here. What is your favorite movie or TV show?
Tatum: TV show, Stranger Things. I'm a diehard Stranger Things fan. I've watched it like so many times and it's my comfort show. So whenever I'm doing my homework, it's on in the background. In terms of movie, I have to say Chasing Mavericks. So it's a story about a surfer from Santa Cruz and he is set on surfing Mavericks, which is a surf break in California, don't know why it's so inspiring for me, but it really just motivates me, you know, like having a dream and accomplishing it and accomplishing it well for yourself. That's it. It like whenever I'm down, I just put it on and then I re motivated. So that has to be one of my favorites to date.
Libby: Awesome, I just wrote it down. I've never heard of that before.
Tatum: It's on Disney+.
Libby: Cool, cool. Well, thank you so much for being here again. This has been a wonderful interview, and I’ve just loved getting to know you over the past little while. Is there anything else you'd like to add or share before we say sayonara?
Tatum: Maybe one last piece of advice, is to keep your mind always open. I know that if it's if I lose myself in this field, maybe I need to go somewhere else. If you've if you're in a different place in your life right now where maybe you have a different career, but astronomy is super interesting to you and you want to come into this field, do it. You know, always keep an open mind. Everything is not fixed. This is a super, super interesting world we live in right now where, you know, everyone can make choices at different parts of their life. And it doesn't, you know, hinder things too much. You know, you can always make different decisions. And, you know, maybe if I decide to become an artist one day, maybe I'll become an artist. But for now, this is definitely my vision, and I hope to complete it.
Libby: Well, I will be rooting for you. And I can't wait to see what you accomplished in your PhD program and beyond. Thank you.
Tatum: Thank you for having me. This has been super wonderful.
Libby: Absolutely. Thank you, Tatum. And yes,see you soon. Bye.
