I started my undergraduate journey as a Criminal Justice major at San Joaquin Delta College, with the goal of working in law enforcement. During this time, I was an Explorer at the Tracy Police Department and went on to work as a Cadet at the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office. My interest in science was growing and led me to the Crime Scene and Forensics field. I spoke with Crime Scene Technicians about what their jobs entailed, and I experienced the job first hand by going on ride-alongs. Through this, I found that my interests were less about the evidence and crime scene, but more toward the lab aspect, which led to my interest in physics and science. The excitement and interest in the unknown still drives me to this day.
This initial interest in science and physics led to me reading about research being done at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the NASA Ames Research Center. Reading about these research facilities sparked my interest in Astrophysics and wanting to learn about the universe. I realized that to understand what was happening, I needed to learn more about physics, and to do that, I needed to learn more about the math behind it. As I researched further, my passion grew, which resulted in me changing my major to Physics when I transferred to California State University Stanislaus. These experiences have sent me to the path I am on today of pursuing a Ph.D. and educating myself and others about the beauty of the universe. I want to pursue a Ph.D. in Astrophysics and eventually work at either a National Lab or NASA research center to inspire others to learn about the universe.
Intellectual Merit:
Through my undergraduate career, I have continued to evolve and surprise myself with the things I am capable of. The experience I have had with my undergraduate research has prepared me for research in graduate school. I have taken my research from data collection to writing code and eventually getting results that led to me presenting at a scientific conference and working on publishing a paper. I have learned how to work together as a group with other students to solve difficult and intense problems.
Since January of 2019, I have worked with Dr. Brian Morsony as a Student Research Assistant at California State University Stanislaus. We have been working on modeling metal production in supernovae. This was my first research project, and a large part of the beginning was learning how to code with Python. Through this project, I learned how to properly read data into Python and format them to fit with an Initial Mass Function (IMF). The goal of this research was initially to see how well the observed abundances from the Perseus cluster and the sun fit to the simulated nucleosynthesis models of different types of supernovae. As we continued on this project, we noticed that some of our models weren’t making enough lighter elements, so we decided to add AGB stars which are another source of heavy elements. Adding the AGB stars ended up giving us new results, and part of the project started to be about comparing the difference between when AGB stars are added and when they are not. This gave us a bit of a different perspective on our results, and I found it interesting because I experienced what it was like to learn something new as well as solve a problem when conducting research. I presented this research at the 237th AAS Virtual Meeting, and I am preparing to present at the 239th AAS meeting in Salt Lake City, UT. As we approach the AAS meeting, I will have uploaded my code to GitHub for others to use for their research, while also preparing a paper for publication.
During the summer of 2021, I was accepted to be a part of the CAMPARE-HERA Astronomy Minority Partnership (CHAMP) program to conduct radio cosmology research at the University of Washington with Dr. Miguel Morales and Dr. Bryna Hazelton. Through my work with the CHAMP program, I gained experience working with a large group of scientists through a supercomputing cluster. I also gained experience working hands-on with data and visualization of the data. I also learned how to use the terminal and write bash scripts. Working with a cluster was a rewarding experience for me as I got to encounter dealing with the process of debugging software by submitting issues to the group for troubleshooting and repair.
While working with Dr. Miguel Morales’ Radio Cosmology lab at the University of Washington, I gained a new appreciation for experimental and observational research. Until this point, the only research I had done was theoretical, so I was excited and interested to learn about other methods of research. During this time, I worked on implementing a program named Sky-Subtracted Incoherent Noise Spectra (SSINS) on HERA data to identify and flag faint Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). While working on implementing SSINS, I had to look for antennas that were not working properly and flag them. I had to do this by looking at data from every antenna by eye, which was the inspiration for my research proposal for the GRFP.
Broader Impacts:
Throughout my experiences as an undergraduate, I have learned the value of interpersonal relationships and how effective working with others can be. I learned these values throughout my time working with law enforcement, taking leadership positions, and embracing mentorship programs.
As a Tracy Police Explorer and San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Cadet, I learned how to properly lead, communicate, and work with others. I also learned the value of community service and helping others. Whether it was helping with city events, assisting with the Police Department, or helping during food drives for those in need, I was always happy to help and volunteer my time for my community. I will continue helping the community in any way that I can during my time in graduate school.
While taking my first calculus based physics class “General Physics,” I began the semester by doing all the homework and studying by myself. I did my criminal justice classes like this, so I thought I would be able to take the same approach with my STEM classes. Initially, I succeeded, but I quickly realized I needed a different approach when I did not do well on the first midterm. When I asked my professor what I can do to succeed in the class he told me to join the Society of Physics Students (SPS) club and connect with other students.
Joining the SPS club exposed me to working in a group environment at school, and it also helped me succeed in my upper division physics courses. Since joining, I have become the President of the club and have taken pride in guiding other students on the right path. As president, I organized team building exercises on GatherTown, a website used to virtually socialize with groups of people from the same organization. During midterms week, I organized group study sessions and offered tutoring for everyone taking physics courses. As the leader of the club, I have done multiple workshops on graduate school, research opportunities, careers in STEM, and essay writing to help other students succeed. Through the SPS club, I learned the value of working in groups, and when I go to graduate school, I intend to join clubs and form study groups with other students.
While being a member of SPS, I took part in many events that helped bring science to the community. I volunteered during Astronomy Night, and I taught families how our telescope works and about the objects we were observing. While helping during Astronomy Night, I enjoyed talking with children and families about outer space and teaching them about the cool things in the universe. I really enjoyed taking part in this event, and I look forward to being a part of similar community outreach programs when I am in graduate school.
Through the many programs I have been involved in, I have received mentorship from students and professors. Having a good mentor showed me that I want to be that person for other students. When I was a part of the CHAMP program, I had the opportunity to talk with many different graduate students and professors that have played a part in helping me succeed. These relationships I made in the program have been very valuable to me, and I hope to keep them as I continue on in my career. As time progresses, I want to mentor others and be a part of the CHAMP program, so I can be a graduate student mentor for an undergraduate.
As a graduate student, I will make the field of astronomy more accessible to less experienced students through outreach programs and mentorship. The University of Washington offers a plethora of outreach programs dedicated to educating individuals from all backgrounds. As a graduate student, I will seek the opportunity to work with the “Astronomy for Sight Impaired” program and help teach astronomy through the use of braille and large print astronomy textbooks aimed at sight impaired learners. The program consists of a fully made curriculum that is made to help students develop a deep understanding of composition of planets, stars and galaxies, astronomical scales, and stellar life cycles. These lesson plans are geared towards sight impaired middle school students and designed to meet the Washington State Learning standards in astronomy for grades six through eight. This program speaks to me because I enjoy educating and helping others learn about the beauties of the universe.
Another program that I will take part in is volunteering at the UW Planetarium.When I volunteered at the SPS Astronomy Night at CSU Stanislaus, I really enjoyed teaching the community about astronomy and talking about it with other people. At UW, I will volunteer to give planetarium shows and take part in any events that take place. I want to inspire others through astronomy and learning about our universe, and volunteering at the planetarium would give me that opportunity.