Senior Research Scientist
Caltech-IPAC
Pasadena, California, United States
Luisa Rebull is a senior research astronomer at the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) at Caltech, which is where she’s worked on the science staff since 2002. She has always wanted to be an astronomer, ever since she was very little. She got her undergraduate degree in physics from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and her MS and PhD in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on the formation of young, low-mass stars all over our Galaxy (stars ~1 to 50 million years old) and in understanding how stellar rotation changes over the first billion years of a star’s life. Both star formation and the evolution of rotation rates tell us more about how and when stars form planets. She uses both ground- and space-based telescopes, though most frequently infrared space-based telescopes. Between public talks and partnering with teachers to incorporate real astronomy research into the classroom, she’s been bringing astronomy to the public for nearly 30 years. Her most substantial effort is the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP). She was awarded a NASA Group Achievement Award 2011 for NITARP (and another in 2007 for NITARP’s predecessor). Her husband is also an astronomer, and they have a high-school-age son who is not only athletic (4th degree black belt in taekwondo! On the lacrosse team!) but a morning person(!?!) who wants to be a marine biologist. They strive to give the biological sciences equal footing in their household, though still don’t allow dissection to be discussed at mealtimes.
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11C-1 - An Overview of NITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program
Saturday, August 24, 2024
9:45 AM – 10:35 AM US PDT
