Uncovering Magnetism’s Mysterious Role in the Galaxy

When were you first drawn to learning about it?

I don’t think that was from some deep-seated, lifelong need to study magnetism, but it grabbed me in grad school as an area of astrophysics that is not well understood and is avoided for its complexity.

For astrophysics in general, I did a National Science Foundation research experience for undergraduates at Arecibo in Puerto Rico the summer before my senior year, and it was incredible. That’s when I realized I wanted to work on the ISM, when I really appreciated what the ISM was. It was my first experience with full-time research, and it was at this incredible facility—both because the telescope is incredible and because you live there on-site in these little cabins. The cabin that Jodie Foster was in, in the movie Contact, that’s where my bunk bed was.

Was there an earlier moment when you realized you wanted to be a scientist?

The honest truth is that I did not always want to be a scientist. At the point of entering college, I was like, maybe I will double major in biology and English. I loved biology in particular, and I’ve always loved writing, so I thought maybe I’d be a writer.

I have always been very interested in everything. It’s a common refrain for astronomers to say, “Oh, ever since I was a little kid, I absolutely loved space, and I knew that’s exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up.” And I definitely loved space as a little kid, but I also loved rocks, and dinosaurs, and lizards. Salamanders in particular. If anything, it all started with looking under rocks for salamanders with my sisters in the backyard in Virginia. It’s just a curiosity about nature and a love of learning, and that’s what you get to do as a scientist.

Original story reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent publication of the Simons Foundation whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences.