The Apollo 11 Moon Landing Anniversary Is a Reminder of the Importance of Women in STEM
Professor Aomawa Shields is honored to be one of the 12 women highlighted in Teen Vogue’s article about working to build an inclusive and welcoming environment for women to thrive in STEM fields.
“When I returned to astronomy after leaving the field for over a decade to pursue acting as a career, I thought I had to downplay and hide my background in the arts. A mentor told me to view my theater background as my superpower. She was right. It totally is! It helps me to communicate the results of my research in ways that are unique and engaging to a broad range of audiences.
It took me a long time to let myself be who I am — which is someone who absolutely loves makeup and fashion — and do science. I realized that if I bought into my own limiting belief that I couldn’t be myself and do what I loved, I was the one who was going to suffer and miss out on the chance to fulfill my wildest dreams of studying the universe and communicating the wonders of the universe to the world. I didn’t want to miss that chance. …No human being gets to tell me what I’m supposed to do (or not supposed to do) with my life. I am what a scientist looks like. And so are you.”
Original article: Apollo 11 Moon Landing 50th Anniversary
NOVA/PBS: An Unexpected Path to Becoming an Astronomer
Professor Aomawa Shields shares her nontraditional career path to becoming an Astronomer.
An Unexpected Path to Becoming an Astronomer
She set out to study space––and then spent over a decade acting in Hollywood. Today, as an exoplanet astronomer at the University of California, Irvine, Aomawa Shields is exploring whether life could exist on faraway worlds."Black Hole Apocalypse" is streaming online now at: https://to.pbs.org/2EuSENx
Posted by NOVA l PBS on Wednesday, September 5, 2018
“Set out to study space––and then spent over a decade acting in Hollywood. Today, as an exoplanet astronomer at the University of California, Irvine, Aomawa Shields is exploring whether life could exist on faraway worlds.”
Three UCI School of Physical Sciences Faculty Earn Prestigious NSF Early Career Awards
Three faculty from the UCI School of Physical Sciences have received the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Early Career Development Awards to support their research, which also includes educational programs for middle school through college-age students.
The 2018 winners are assistant professors Franklin Dollar, Aomawa Shields and Tom Trogdon.
Aomawa Shields, Ph.D., the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor also in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $687,418 for the five year grant on her project titled CAREER: Bridging Theory and Observations of Habitable Worlds and Building a Bridge to Astronomy and Astrobiology for Underrepresented Middle-School Girls.
“I couldn’t be more honored to receive this NSF awards as it means we will break new ground globally in both science and education,” Shields shared. “We will be able to execute an interdisciplinary, multi-tiered research program bridging theory and observations of potentially habitable planets, and involve students and postdoctoral scholars in our efforts to target planets with the best prospects for hosting life in our corner of the Galaxy.”
Original Story: https://ps.uci.edu/node/49768
UCI Professor Aomawa Shields selected to receive 3-year grant from NASA Habitable Worlds Program
The NASA Habitable Worlds Program has selected the proposal, “The effect of salt- and land-albedo feedback on the climate and habitability of M-dwarf planets” (PI Aomawa Shields, UC Irvine) for funding beginning in fiscal year 2017.
With this funding, covering fiscal years 2017-2020, Shields, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California Irvine, will lead a research team of postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate students in the exploration of the radiative effects on climate and habitability of a wide range of surface types possible on planets orbiting small, cool, red, M-dwarf stars. Shields’ group will apply these results to create the most accurate assessments of the likelihood of the most exciting potentially habitable planets to actually possess the conditions necessary for life.
Original Story: https://news.uci.edu/2017/10/23/uci-astronomer-wins-nasa-grant-to-study-exoplanets/