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Nia Imara

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Nia Imara
Born
Oakland, California
Alma materKenyon College (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (PhD)
Known forScience and art
Scientific career
InstitutionsUC Santa Cruz
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Thesis The Formation and Evolution of Giant Molecular Clouds  (2010)
Websiteniaimara.com

Nia Imara is an American astrophysicist, artist, and activist. Imara's scientific work deals with galactic mass, star formation, and exoplanet detection. Imara was the first African-American woman to earn a PhD in astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley[1] and was the inaugural postdoctoral fellow in the Future Faculty Leaders program at Harvard University.[2] In 2020, Imara joined the University of California, Santa Cruz as an assistant professor in the Department of Astronomy.[3] Her recent work includes 3D-printing models to aid visualization of molecular clouds.

Early life and education

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Imara was born in East Oakland, Oakland, California and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.[4] She received her bachelor's degree from Kenyon College in 2003,[5] majoring in mathematics and physics.[4] While at Kenyon College, she competed on the college's swim team.[6] She moved to the University of California, Berkeley for her postgraduate studies, and in 2010 she became the first African-American woman to earn a PhD in astrophysics at University of California, Berkeley.[4] Her dissertation was on The Formation and Evolution of Giant Molecular Clouds and was supervised by Leo Blitz.[7]

Career

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From 2014 to 2017, Imara was the inaugural postdoctoral fellow in the Future Faculty Leaders program at Harvard University. Her postdoctoral research focused on giant molecular clouds, the birth sites of stars, and the properties and cosmological effects of galactic and intergalactic dust.[2] She used the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, to conduct her research.[4]

In 2017, she was appointed as the John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellow and the Harvard FAS Dean's Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.[8] Her work investigates the structure and evolution of stellar nurseries in both the Milky Way Galaxy and other galaxies throughout the universe,[9] and she has developed a model that connects galaxy mass, star formation rates and dust temperatures.[10]

In fall 2020, Imara joined the faculty in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Together with Rosanne Di Stefano, Imara proposed a method for detecting exoplanets in X-ray binary star systems.[11] Imara, Di Stefano, and their other collaborators found evidence, using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, of a potential planet passing in front of a star that is 28 million light-years away in the M51 galaxy.[12] Their findings were published to Nature Astronomy in an October 2021 paper entitled "A possible planet candidate in an external galaxy detected through X-ray transit."[13] If the findings are confirmed, this would represent the first sighting of a planet outside of our Milky Way Galaxy.[14]

To help visualize molecular clouds, Imara has developed a way to use "high-resolution bitmap-based three-dimensional (3D) printing" to create handheld models for teaching and outreach.[15] These models, according to CNET, are "polished, baseball-size orbs that look like oversized marbles with swirling patterns inside."[16] Models in 3D are better than 2D images because, says Imara, "when we’re looking at a flat picture, we often can’t tell how far a certain structure extends into the depth of the cloud. But when we have a tool like this 3D-printed object, it’s inherently interactive, and we can see a structure sort of winding its way through the cloud."[17]

Activism and community engagement

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Imara is an advocate for equity in STEM. She founded the Equity and Inclusion Journal Club at Harvard University in 2018 which was originally co-organized with Dr. Anna Pancoast.[18] She has visited South Africa and Ghana to teach and advocate in programs designed to increase diversity in astronomy and other STEM areas.[19][20]

In 2020, Imara founded Onaketa, an organization that connects students from underserved communities of color with free math and science tutoring.[21][22]

Imara has described the field of astronomy as a uniquely powerful tool for engaging the general public with, and expanding access to, science: "Everyone’s captivated by astronomy, by the stars, what’s out there in the universe...And so I made a conscious choice a long time ago that I wanted to share my work with the community, with Black folks and other people of color, especially.”[21] Imara recently appeared as herself in the "Age of Stars" episode of the 2021 PBS Nova documentary series "Universe Revealed," [23] as well as a short segment in Ancient Skies "Gods and Monsters" (TV Episode 2019). [24]

References

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  1. ^ Burt, Cecily (November 4, 2015). "Oakland: Help record your experience with gentrification". The Mercury News. Oakland, CA: Bay Area News Group. Archived from the original on May 3, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Harvard Fellowship for Future Faculty Leaders: Overview". Harvard College Observatory. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  3. ^ Roberson, Stephen (February 22, 2022). "February 22, 2022 - Dr. Nia Imara". National Society of Black Physicists. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Kumamoto, Akira Olivia (November 16, 2015). "Nia Imara sheds light on Oakland through art". Oakland North. UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  5. ^ Kotis, India (April 26, 2019). "'Pursue your love. Stay hopeful. You're needed': an interview with Dr. Nia Imara '03". Lyceum. Kenyon College. Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  6. ^ Kumamoto, Akira Olivia (November 16, 2015). "Nia Imara sheds light on Oakland through art". Oakland North. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Imara, Nia (2010). The Formation and Evolution of Giant Molecular Clouds (Thesis). UC Berkeley.
  8. ^ "John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellows (JHDSF) Program: Current Fellows". President and Fellows of Harvard College. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  9. ^ "Nia Imara, PhD - John Harvard Distinguished Science Fellow". Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  10. ^ Imara, Nia; Loeb, Abraham; Johnson, Benjamin D.; Conroy, Charlie; Behroozi, Peter (February 8, 2018). "A Model Connecting Galaxy Masses, Star Formation Rates, and Dust Temperatures Across Cosmic Time". The Astrophysical Journal. 854 (1): 36. arXiv:1801.01499. Bibcode:2018ApJ...854...36I. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaa3f0. ISSN 1538-4357. S2CID 46339810.
  11. ^ Kohler, Susanna (July 20, 2018). "Searching for exoplanets around X-ray binaries". AAS Nova. American Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  12. ^ "Chandra Sees Evidence for Possible Planet in Another Galaxy". Chandra Press Room. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. October 25, 2021. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  13. ^ Di Stefano, Rosanne; Berndtsson, Julia; Urquhart, Ryan; Soria, Roberto; Kashyap, Vinay L.; Carmichael, Theron W.; Imara, Nia (2021-10-25). "A possible planet candidate in an external galaxy detected through X-ray transit". Nature Astronomy. 5 (12): 1297–1307. Bibcode:2021NatAs...5.1297D. doi:10.1038/s41550-021-01495-w. ISSN 2397-3366. S2CID 239892362.
  14. ^ Bennett, Sukee (October 27, 2021). "Astronomers find a potential exoplanet outside the Milky Way galaxy". NOVA. PBS. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  15. ^ Imara, Nia; Forbes, John C; Weaver, James C (August 25, 2021). "Touching the Stars: Using High-resolution 3D Printing to Visualize Stellar Nurseries". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 918 (1): L3. arXiv:2108.00014. Bibcode:2021ApJ...918L...3I. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac194e. . Our bitmap-based 3D printing approach thus faithfully reproduces the subtle density gradient distribution within molecular clouds in a tangible, intuitive, and visually stunning manner. While laying the groundwork for the intuitive analysis of other structurally complex astronomical data sets, our 3D-printed models also serve as valuable tools in educational and public outreach endeavors.
  16. ^ "Astronomers 3D-print stellar nurseries you can hold in your hand". CNET. Retrieved February 23, 2024. The models are made from opaque resin deposited inside transparent resin, which makes it look like the cosmic clouds are suspended within each globe. The researchers also made half-spheres that give a view into the cross sections of the nurseries.
  17. ^ "The Astrophysicist Who Sculpts Stars Before They Are Born". Quanta. July 20, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2024. Then she casts the data into baseball-size spheres of resin with a 3D printer — layer by layer, each one-third the thickness of a sheet of paper. These sculptures of stellar ultrasounds have helped Imara study the processes guiding star formation more intimately than ever before.
  18. ^ "The Equity and Inclusion Journal Club". President and Fellows of Harvard College. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  19. ^ Seeking Solutions: Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia: Summary of a Conference. National Academies Press. 2013. ISBN 9780309295949. OCLC 870331993. Retrieved May 5, 2019 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ Appah, Samuel Obeng (9 February 2019). "Year of Return: Ghana begins celebration of Black History Month with launch". VoyagesAfriq. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  21. ^ a b Jackson, Ashawnta (February 25, 2021). "Artist, Activist, and Astrophysicist Nia Imara Keeps Her Eyes on the Sky". Berkley Arts + Design. Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  22. ^ "Onaketa | About". Onaketa. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2022. Astrophysicist and artist Nia Imara founded Onaketa...
  23. ^ "Nova" Universe Revealed: Age of Stars (TV Episode 2021) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-04-29
  24. ^ "Ancient Skies" Gods and Monsters (TV Episode 2019) - IMDb, retrieved 2023-02-12
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