american astronomical society

Chiara Mingarelli: How I Ended Up At The Center of the Universe

Dr. Chiara Mingarelli describes her personal journey—and roadblocks encountered—to the “center of the universe.”  Listen below or stream the official podcast!

Listen on iTunes!

Dr. Chiara Mingarelli is an Italo-Canadian gravitational-wave astrophysicist, currently based at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she holds a Marie Curie Fellowship. Mingarelli received her Ph.D from the University of Birmingham, UK, in 2014, where she worked with Prof. Alberto Vecchio. Her core research is focused on using Pulsar Timing Arrays to detect low-frequency gravitational waves, with forays into electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave events, such as fast radio bursts. Mingarelli’s thesis was published in the Springer Thesis Series (2015), and is the recipient of numerous grants from the Royal Astronomical Society and the UK Institute of Physics for both research and outreach. She recently appeared on Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, “Talk Nerdy” with Cara Santa Maria, and maintains a strong social media presence where she advocates for “Science, Coffee, and Girl Power”.

Jay Pasachoff: A Solar Eclipse of a Former Mathematician’s Heart

Dr. Pasachoff explains his journey from being the shortest math major in Harvard history to a 50+ illustrious career in solar astronomy. Listen below or stream the official podcast!

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Jay Pasachoff, Chair of the International Astronomical Union’s Working Group on Eclipses, is Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College and a Visitor in Planetary Science at Caltech. He has viewed 60 solar eclipses, and is an expert on both their use for scientific observations and their use for public education. Pasachoff is past president of the International Astronomical Union’s Commission on Education and Development and Chair of the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society. He received the Education Prize of the American Astronomical Society and, last year, the Janssen Prize of the Société Astronomique de France. Pasachoff is the author or co-author of The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium, the Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets, and Nearest Star: The Surprising Science of Our Sun as well as, on a more technical level, The Solar Corona.

 

 

Tomorrow is launch day at Before the Abstract!

Springer StorytellersHello BTA fans and subscribers – the day is almost here that we finally go live!

Tomorrow we will post our inaugural Springer Storytellers podcast in the “Listen” section, which features the story of Dr. Kaspar von Braun, astrophysicist at Lowell  Observatory. Dr. von Braun presented his story on January 6, 2015, alongside the American Astronomical Society’s annual meeting.

Be sure to sign up to receive regular updates when new content is posted, and you can also subscribe at “Before the Abstract” on iTunes. And maybe most importantly – tell your friends, family and colleagues to do the same!

Thanks for your support, and we look forward to bringing you many, many more examples of storytelling in science.