SWiS Graduate Student Edition: In conversation with Sofia Rojas

Kristi Kremers is the founder of the Change Agency. Previously, she was the Director of Faculty and Graduate Leadership Programs including the Boreas Environmental Leadership Program, the IonE Associates Program, and the ANGLES Network. Her passion is focused on training the next generation of leaders and change agents. To do this, she believes that the landscape of graduate education must be transformed to break down academic silos and provide students with the capacity and connections to work across disciplines.Kristi has lived multiple lives: a rock journalist at the young age of 16 interviewing musicians on tour buses, as an undergrad living with aboriginal tribes in Australia, two-time student body president at the U representing the largest graduate governance structure in the country, co-founder of a non-profit, co-founder of a national lobbying organization, author of 6 books in addition to being a university researcher, administrator and teacher for the past decade. Kristi has been teaching at colleges and universities for the past decade. Her primary research interests include: emotional intelligence, ethics, neuroleadership, applied mindfulness in leadership, and how organizations can adapt an anthropological approach to creating culture and community.Join me as I talk to Kristi about a broad range of topics including the role and importance of emotional intelligence in our daily lives, becoming mindful leaders, and tips for dealing with imposter syndrome. I hope that you will enjoy listening to this episode! Do rate this episode, and share it with your friends, and let me know your thoughts in the comments!Sources:Kristi's Bio from UMN DSMMA website and Lead to Love (http://leadtolove.com/about-the-author/)Music credits: Epidemic Sound

Dr. Kristen McQuinn is an Assistant Prof. of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University. In this episode, Dr. McQuinn and I chat about her non-traditional path to Astrophysics, her experience in graduate school as a mother of two young children, her insights on some experiences along the way, and her advice for aspiring students.Dr. McQuinn earned her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Lehigh University. After working in the industry for 9 years, she applied for graduate school and completed her PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Minnesota in 2010. She stayed as a postdoc at UMN for 5 years and then worked as a Research Scientist at University of Texas at Austin before joining her current role.Dr. McQuinn’s science interests are focused on the formation and history of low-mass galaxies, predominantly in the nearby Universe, and what such galaxies can tell us about the history of the universe. Specifically, she is interested in using low-mass galaxies to probe different epochs of the cosmic time (including the earliest epochs of evolution) and to study individual processes, such as the formation of stars, the evolution of chemical elements, and the impact of star formation on the gas and structure of a galaxy.I hope that you will enjoy listening to this episode! Subscribe, share this episode with your friends, and let me know your thoughts in the comments!Sources:Dr. McQuinn’s research websiteMusic credits: Epidemic Sound

Join me as I chat with Sofia Rojas, a Colombian Astronomer and graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Heidelberg. We talk about her experience as an international student in the field, her journey into Astrophysics and to the United States, her path to graduate school, advice on writing successful observing proposals, and more! Sofia was born and raised in Colombia. She studied Astronomy and Physics at the University of Texas at Austin. Throughout her time in UT, she received multiple scholarships from different donors that helped fund her studies. She also received a couple of Awards from the College of Natural Sciences and the University to showcase her research in conferences worldwide. She then received the IMPRS Fellowship to develop her PhD studies at the International Max Planck Research School - Heidelberg. She also recently received James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) time from a proposal (in which she is the Co-PI along with Dr. Micaela Bagley) to study galaxies in the beginning of the Universe.I hope that you will enjoy listening to this episode! Subscribe, share this episode with your friends, and let me know your thoughts and suggestions in the comments!Sources:NASAMusic credits: Epidemic Sound

Professor Neta Bahcall is a preeminent observational cosmologist and is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astrophysics at Princeton University.Dr. Neta Bahcall was born in Israel. After completing her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, she received her PhD from Tel Aviv University in 1970. Her husband, Dr. John Bahcall, was also a pioneer in the field.An interesting fact: Dr. Neta Bahcall's and Dr. John Bahcall's wedding rings were sent to the Hubble Space Telescope, and they flew around the earth more than two hundred times! Listen to this episode to learn more about this intriguing story!Dr. Neta Bahcall has held many prestigious positions such as the first Head of the Science Program Selection Office and Chief of the General Observer Branch at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. She is the recipient of the prestigious Vaucouleurs Medal, Payne-Gaposchkin Award, the Bennett-McWilliams Award, an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree - OSU, Century Lecturer of the AAS, and member of various NASA, NSF, NAS, and Congressional Science committees."How much dark matter exists in the Universe and where is it located? What is the nature of the mysterious dark energy? What is the large-scale structure of our Universe? How did structure form and evolve? What is the fate of our Universe and its expansion?" These are some of the questions that Dr. Neta Bahcall researches.I hope you will enjoy listening to this episode! Subscribe, share this episode with your friends, and let me know your thoughts in the comments!Sources:Dr. Bahcall's bio: Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton UniversityMusic credits: Querida- Cornelio and Riversides- Tape Machines both from Epidemic Sound

Welcome to the Stories of Women in Science podcast (SWIS in short). In this episode, I tell you a bit about myself and my motivation behind starting this podcast.The field of science today has so many incredible and successful women!!What does their day-to-day life look like? What drives them? What are some of the challenges that they faced along the way? What does being a woman in science mean to them? What does it take to become a scientist? How do they maintain a good work-life balance?'If you are curious about any of these questions, then you are in the right place! This podcast is an exciting and inspirational series of interviews featuring the stories of women in science. Gain an insight on the lives of current scientists, professors, and graduate students, and learn more about who they are, what they do, and why their work matters.It is my strong belief that making such empowering stories accessible will help in building a sense of purpose and instilling a can-do attitude in oneself. Above all, it is my hope that they encourage more female students to take up careers in the Sciences.Stay tuned!Music credit: Comprehension by Frank Jonnson, and Querida, both from Epidemic Sound.