Introducing Heidi Thiemann

Heidi Thiemann (@heidi_teaman) is a PhD student in astronomy at The Open University in Milton Keynes. Her research focuses on the creation of catalogue of rotatationally modulated stars with an X-ray counterpart (aka stars with star spots) in the SuperWASP All Sky Survey and the XMM-Newton catalogue. Through machine learning, she will use such stars to study the relationship between the rotation period and X-ray activity of stars, which may be able to tell us more about exoplanetary atmospheres and habitability.

Before her PhD, Heidi did an MPhys in Physics with Space Science and Technology at the University of Leicester, and blames a family friend for getting her interested in astronomy at the age of 11.

Outside of research, she co-runs a space-themed careers website for young people (@spacecareersuk), and is a senior mentor at Space School UK. To escape from astronomy, Heidi spends her time running, baking, attempting to learn Japanese, and wishing she could spend her entire PhD stipend on learning to fly.

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Introducing Mia de los Reyes

Mia de los Reyes (@MiaDoesAstro) just finished her first year of the PhD program in astronomy at Caltech! Mia’s research mostly focuses on nearby galaxies—how they form stars, and the chemical compositions of those stars. She’s currently working on measuring manganese in dwarf galaxies near the Milky Way, which can tell us about the physics of some of the supernovae that exploded in these galaxies. Before escaping to sunny California, she did her undergrad in physics and math at North Carolina State University and spent a year doing an MPhil degree at the University of Cambridge.

Mia is also passionate about science-related things other than research, including: equity and inclusion in science, science policy, and science outreach. As part of her unending campaign to get people to care about galaxies, she writes for Astrobites (@astrobites). Perhaps even more importantly, Mia also cares about rock climbing, literally anything related to Tolkien, and finding and consuming free food.

Introducing Teddy Kareta

Theodore (“Teddy”) Kareta (@teddykareta) is a 1st year graduate student at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Teddy studies the evolution of small bodies (e.g. comets, asteroids) with telescopic and spacecraft data, such as from the NASA IRTF, the ESA’s Rosetta mission, and (in a few months) NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. Specifically, he is interested in studying the surfaces of small bodies to understand something about their history – and how they will continue to change into the future. Before moving to the desert of southern Arizona, he completed a BS in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Outside of work, Teddy enjoys biking, outreach, and watching bad movies with his friends.

Introducing Josephine Peters

Josephine Peters (@josieapeters) is a PhD student at the University of Oxford. She researches galaxy evolution with data from radio interferometers; the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). She takes samples of hundreds of galaxies and looks at how their luminosity changes over the history of the Universe. Before her PhD, Josie did an MSc at the University of Manchester and a BSc in Maths at King’s College London. It was outreach in the form of a photography exhibition that inspired Josie to go into astronomy.

To share her love of astronomy (and hopefully inspire others as she was inspired), Josie presents videos on astronomy news, explains topics such as spacetime and quasars, and interviews other astronomers.

When other aspects of science grab her curiosity, Josie co-presents a new podcast called A Piece of String (@StringPodcast), that brings together comedians and scientific minds to answer the biggest of all questions, ever.

Beyond science, Josie spends her time drawing silly comics (@artartyeahart), performing improvised comedy with The Oxford Imps and singing loudly.

Introducing Adina Feinstein

Hi! My name is Adina Feinstein, and I just finished my undergraduate degree in astrophysics at Tufts University and will continue my education next year at U of Chicago. My research experiences range from galaxy evolution to correcting for gravitational lensing to aging stars and characterizing exoplanets. I hope to use my time on Astrotweeps to talk about my research, the graduate school application process, and offer advice to those who wish to pursue astronomy in the future. Outside of academia, I’m a bake-aholic, love to crochet, and enjoy writing the occasional short story!

 

Introducing Mary Beth Laychak

Mary Beth Laychak is the Outreach Program Manager at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Mary Beth has an undergraduate degree in astronomy and astrophysics from Penn State University and a masters degree in educational technology from San Diego State.  Her passions include astronomy, sharing astronomy with the public and astronomy based crafts.

(Re)introducing Andy Rivkin

Andy is a planetary astronomer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD, with his research focusing on the composition of asteroids. In particular, he is interested in those asteroids that have evidence of water or organic materials in them, detectable in their infrared reflectance spectrum. This pursuit has led to studies of asteroids all over the inner solar system, from dwarf planets to objects that can fit inside a sports stadium.

In addition to observational work, Andy has been active in the broader near-Earth object community, serving as a team member in several efforts to understand and report the impact hazard we face and how to lessen it, including serving as Investigation Lead for the DART mission scheduled to conduct a planetary defense demonstration in 2022. Finally, Andy is the Principal Investigator of the MANTIS mission concept, which if selected by NASA will conduct an asteroid tour in the 2020s.

The other 51 weeks of the year, you can find Andy at @asrivkin.