Photo: Eric Schmiedl
I graduated in June 2007 with a B.A. in astrophysics from a little liberal arts school up the river from MIT. I worked with Richard French on analyzing spectra of Saturn's rings and observed Koronis family asteroids for Stephen Slivan.
Summer 2009, I worked as a SpaceGrant intern at JPL under Paul Weissman, studying the rotation rate of near-Earth asteroid (4015) Wilson-Harrington as well as main belt asteroid (21) Lutetia. We recovered the orbits of a half dozen near-Earth objects as well as other fast-moving asteroids in August at JPL's Table Mountain Observatory.
During 2008-2009 I am working for Lindy Elkins-Tanton on terrestrial planet formation and thermodynamics, including magma ocean solidification and mineralogy.
For the academic year of 2007-2008 I worked for Richard Binzel on determining the rotation rates of Nix and Hydra, two newly-discovered moons of Pluto using one of the 6.5-meter Magellan telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory. I also helped characterize Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) by taking infrared spectra with the IRTF on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
I'm an alumna of pika, an independent living group at MIT. During my two years at pika, I learned a good deal about construction, dealing with contractors, and purchasing large amounts of things in small amounts of time. My advice and tips are here. Few things are more fun than shopping and cooking for 100 people.
My other interests include sailing, flying, playing squash, SCUBA diving, cooking, sewing, playing with fire, and cycling. I'm the former chair of the Graduate Ring Committee.
Before I moved back east I went to a little high school in Northern California and sailed out of an even smaller sailing club on Tomales Bay.
Check out the MIT Campaign for Students.
