Catherine Espaillat

Catherine C. Espaillat is an American astronomer whose research is focused on the formation of planets, including the study of protoplanetary disks and young stellar objects.[1][2] She is an associate professor of astronomy at Boston University, where she directs the Institute for Astrophysical Research.[3]

Education and career

Espaillat comes from a working-class immigrant family;[4] her parents emigrated to the US from the Dominican Republic.[5] She was interested in astronomy since childhood, but entered Columbia University intending to become a physician; her focus changed to a career in astronomy after taking an introductory course in the subject as a sophomore.[4] After graduating in 2003 with a degree in astronomy, she went to the University of Michigan for graduate study, earned a master's degree there in 2005, and completed her Ph.D. in 2009,[6] under the supervision of Nuria Calvet.[7]

She became a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics from 2009 to 2013, supported by the National Science Foundation and by a NASA Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowship. Next, she joined the Boston University Department of Astronomy as an assistant professor in 2013.[6] She was promoted to associate professor in 2020.[6][8]

Espaillat is also the director of the League of Underrepresented Minoritized Astronomers (LUMA), a peer mentoring community for women from underrepresented groups in astronomy and related fields,[9] which she founded in 2015.[10]

Recognition

Espaillat was named as a Sloan Research Fellow and as a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in 2016. In 2022, the American Association for the Advancement of Science named Espaillat as an AAAS Fellow.[11]

She was a keynote speaker at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society.[4]

References
  1. Barlow, Rich (January 27, 2014), "Finding Planets before They Happen: CAS astronomer probes the puzzle of planetary formation", BU Today, Boston University, retrieved 2023-10-01
  2. Choi, Charles Q. (September 3, 2021), "Dense 'hot spots' on a young star reveal what Earth's sun may have looked in its infancy", Space.com, retrieved 2023-10-01
  3. "Catherine Espaillat", Profiles, Boston University Astronomy, retrieved 2023-10-01
  4. Panwar, Vatsal (January 10, 2019), Meet the AAS Keynote Speakers: Dr. Catherine Espaillat, American Astronomical Society, retrieved 2023-10-01
  5. Espaillat, Catherine (June 30, 2020), "I am the proud daughter of two immigrants from the Dominican Republic", X, retrieved 2023-10-03
  6. Curriculum vitae (PDF), July 19, 2023, retrieved 2023-10-01
  7. "Catherine Espaillat", Alumni profiles, University of Michigan Astronomy, retrieved 2023-10-01
  8. "Nearly Two Dozen Charles River Campus Faculty Promoted to Associate Professor", BU Today, Boston University, June 25, 2020, retrieved 2023-10-01
  9. LUMA mentoring, retrieved 2023-10-01
  10. Plata, Thalia (October 3, 2022), "Seven BU Latinx Researchers Making a Difference", The Brink, Boston University, retrieved 2023-10-01
  11. Hensley, Kerry (January 21, 2022), AAS Members Elected as 2022 AAAS Fellows, American Astronomical Society, retrieved 2023-10-01
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