Tell us a bit about yourself!
I am a Physics & Astronomy and Integrated Science double major finishing up my second year at NU. I’m from Woodridge, IL which is a Chicago suburb and I’ve lived in Chicagoland my entire life. Growing up, I did martial arts (specifically Shotokan karate for 13 years) and won ~60-70 medals and trophies from fighting in regional and national competitions. I was also a Boy Scout which developed my love of the outdoors and camping was has greatly influenced my choices later in life (see question 9). My family is from the United Kingdom and I’ve been there 12 times. My grandma was from Wales and my grandpa is from London, we would always fly into London and then drive over to Wales and stay there for 3 weeks. All this time spent in the UK got me very in touch with my heritage, and when my grandma finally died I got a tattoo of the Welsh dragon to remember her and all my great childhood memories of her home. My British upbringing taught me to have a profound love of sports, mainly rugby and football (REAL football, not American football).
What made you want to do astronomy research?
I wanted to do astronomy research because I had done experimental physics research freshman year and decided that it wasn’t for me. I’ve always been more interested in astronomy anyway and found the mysteries of the sky to be the most intriguing thing, so when Dr. Fong gave a short presentation to my physics class about gamma-ray burst astronomy, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the mysteries there were relating to astronomy.
What was your Astronomy background before you came to work with Dr. Fong? What have you learned since?
My astronomy background was essentially none. I have never taken an astronomy class and my astro knowledge is limited to books and scientific shows/documentaries I’ve watched growing up as a kid. After 6 months, I’ve learned a tremendous amount. I’ve learned about basics like how we get the data we used and how some of these telescopes work, to how to interpret and analyze astronomical data. I’ve spent a lot of time coding and trying to fix things in MATLAB and other languages because we need a way to process and visualize data which has helped me learn a lot about computer science in general, but also leads to a better understanding of the astronomy happening. And finally I learned that doing actual research is conducive to real intellectual curiosity, as I found myself thinking about my research during class or while I was trying to do homework because I just couldn’t get these questions out of my mind.
What was the most frustrating/challenging aspect of research?
The most frustrating aspect was dealing with the technical aspects of research. A lot of what we do is computer based and if the software doesn’t work as expected, it can take a lot of time to try and fix, and ultimately you might never fix it! But that’s how it goes sometimes, and that’s something you have to learn to deal with and workaround, which is what we did. The most challenging, yet satisfying part was trying to wrap my head around the big concepts of my research– what are we doing, why are we doing it, and where are we going? Astronomy can be a vast and mysterious field, and can raise some profound questions. Trying to understand the answers or develop a plan to find the answers can be very challenging, but knowing that you’re part of the collective effort to advance our understanding is rewarding.
What was the most rewarding part?
There are two things that I can think of when talking about the most rewarding part. The first is how much you learn. In two quarters, I felt like I learned an immense amoutn of content, far more than I learned in any two classes here at NU. The second thing is that the work you do is yours. I had my very own research that was unique to me, and while other people are doing similar work elsewhere, I still had my very own project and goals, and eventually some results. It’s great to have something that you can call yours, as opposed to a problem set in class where it’s not new or unique or exciting in the way that research is.
What were your expectations of how research was conducted prior to joining Dr. Fong’s group? What surprised you most about your research experience?
I expected research to be far more structured and planned. A lot of people I know are in Chemistry and Biology groups, and they have group meetings and presentations and seem to be on a very strict and rigid schedule. I was surprised that Dr. Fong’s group was much more relaxed and unstructured. I’ve since found out that this is a somewhat common theme in CIERA, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Being able to choose which project you work on is great, and having the chance to make mistakes and adjust takes a lot of pressure off you, especially during the schoolyear when you’re stressed out by everything else. I also thought research would be much faster paced, but I now realize that even the smallest bit of information can take years to work towards because there’s so much involved in obtaining new knowledge and making discoveries.
Name a valuable skill (or multiple!) that you feel you learned from research.
I learned quite a few valuable skills from research. First and foremost, I learned to dedicate myself to something I really cared about and spend time trying to learn more. I feel like I tried to go above and beyond with my project every time Dr. Fong gave me something to do because I was actually really interested in my research and wanted to know even more. I also learned a lot of technical skills, things like coding, how to use different data processing/visualization softwares, etc. The last important thing I can think of is that I learned to be a bit mroe patient. I was never a patient person, but like I said, research takes time. This forced me to be a bit more patient which is a good trait to have.
What would you tell a student just starting on their first research project?
For a student just starting a research project, my advice would be to not treat it like a class but to treat it like a break. It will be much more fun if you treat your research like something you choose to do because you like it and want to find out more. Part of this means you need to pick research that seems interesting to you, but after that it’s just about your mindset. Go in thinking like a scientist and be ready to spend time trying to learn more and be fully involved in your research.
What’s next??? (e.g., in your life, what are you moving onto)
I’m leaving to go study abroad in Wellington, New Zealand for 5 months. I’ll spend lots of time hiking and exploring the beautiful natural scenery as I’ve been limited to camping in the vast cornfields of Illinois for most of my life. Of course, I’ll be attending as many rugby matches as I can and I’ll be trying to make the most of my time away. Once I come back I plan to resume research, but whether or not I will stick with astronomy is uncertain, I’ll just have to see how I feel in 6 months when the quarter starts back up!