Tell us a bit about yourself!
Hi! I’m Susana Torres-Londono and I was born in Itagui, Colombia, raised on the East Coast, went to high school in Illinois, and attend college in California. I am a second-year at UC Berkeley studying physics with a minor in data science. I also love historical fiction, soccer, family, and Adventure Time.
What made you want to do astronomy research?
I (like most) have always been interested in astro, simply looking at the night sky sparks curiosity in me. I was very intrigued by all things space. I was also interested in branching out from Physics and looking at applications of the field. So naturally, I decided to pursue astro research.
What was your Astronomy background before you came to work with Dr. Fong? What have you learned since?
Almost none! I had only taken three lower division physics courses and two intro math classes. All the astro I knew came out of my own curiosity and interest in the field. I basically knew what any person on the street with an interest in science would know.
What was the most frustrating/challenging aspect of research?
I would say the unpredictable changes of pace. Research can be really slow one week and incredibly fast the next.
What was the most rewarding part?
The finished product! Seeing my plots & figures in a research paper and being used for further scientific research!
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 to have a lot of self-guided tasks and to do a lot of independent troubleshooting. While a good amount of this went on, Dr. Fong also gave me a lot of personalized support and we were able to meet in person at least once every week. Dr. Fong was a really involved faculty member with a great willingness to teach.
Name a valuable skill (or multiple!) that you feel you learned from research.
I was able to work with Linux, Python, and Ds9. Dr. Fong was really good at assigning me a project that was challenging enough to keep me interested and motivated but not overwhelmed.
What would you tell a student just starting on their first research project?
Be honest about your skill set and background and always ask questions when you are confused *probably look to fellow students, google, and youtube for help first though 🙂
What’s next??? (e.g., in your life, what are you moving onto)
I am going back to Cal & hopefully finding a research project in the fall! I am also really interested in astro now so I hope to take a few classes and perhaps research more in the field. I would also like to pursue a graduate degree and one day be a professor myself— but we’ll see. I am very open minded about my future, which I think is a good thing!