Astrophysicist Q&A

 

In this blog, we had the lucky ducky good fortune to speak with our friend Nataliea all about her research, toughest career moments + an update on what those cheeky Aliens might be up to …

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Hi! Tell us a little bit about yourself! 

Hi! My name is Nataliea Lowson and I’m currently undertaking research in astrophysics for my PhD at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. My research focuses on exoplanets, in particular, characterising their atmospheres. 

Coooooool- tell us more about your research! 

I’m looking at planets beyond our Solar System to figure out what they’re made of. These planets have layers of gas surrounding it, just like the Earth does, and we call this an atmosphere. Each atmosphere is unique and when astronomers look at these distant atmospheres using telescopes, we can determine what gases they are made of. This can help us understand the weather on these worlds, the history of how it formed and also whether there are potentially aliens living there. 

Aliens 👽  How interesting! What is your favorite thing you learned this year?

My favourite thing I’ve learnt this year is what characteristics we can learn about an atmosphere from observing it using different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (i.e. different regions of light). For example, in optical light (the light we see with our eyes), we can detect what the upper atmosphere is made of but when look in infrared light (the light that makes your tv remote work), we can detect what the lower region of the atmosphere is made up of and what type of clouds are present. 
 
What do you think is the most important concept about STEM children should learn? 

That being a wiz at mathematics does not equate to being good at physics. I think a lot of people assume they’re the same but that definitely is not the case. Learning physics first requires understanding what’s physically going on in that case scenario which is then followed by using mathematics to explain it. In other words, if you’re not 100% great at math, that’s okay, you can still be a scientist. Just like everything else in life, it requires practice to improve, not talent.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced on your career path?

My final college grades were not high enough to get into the university I wanted, so I went to another university instead and worked really hard for a year to get good grades and transfer. This hard work paid off because at the end of the year, my grades were good enough for me to transfer into the university that was my first choice in college. That year was particularly hard, because the university I was attending didn’t have any astronomy or physics courses, so I wasn’t even able to enrol in any science courses I was passionate about.
 
What is something parents can do to support young kids who are also interested in space/STEM? 

Firstly, be encouraging. Understanding concepts in mathematics, coding, and science can be hard so you need to remind them that practice and patience is key. 

• Look for science YouTube channels that your kids can watch and don’t be afraid to read to them about these topics too. 

• Programming is now a big part of scientific research, so encouraging kids to learn how to code will be immensely helpful (I didn’t realise this until I was in university). 

• If they ask you questions that you don’t know the answers to, that’s also okay. Say you don’t know and then utilise that moment to learn the answer together. 


Lastly, and arguably most importantly, make sure to expose your kids to various areas of representation when they learn. A scientist can be anyone, and if history has taught anything, assuming otherwise only holds us all back.
 
What does the future of space look like? Should we be packing our bags for Mars?

The future of space looks incredible. For my area of research in particular, engineers and scientists are currently making telescopes that will be powerful enough to detect planets the size of Earth, which in itself is a huge accomplishment. The more powerful these telescopes become, the chances of detecting alien life on other worlds increases immensely. There’s also a possibility that life may exist on under the icy exterior of Jupiter’s moon Europa, so plans to send a probe to investigate under Europa’s surface is also underway.
 
In terms of Mars, I wouldn’t say we should pack our bags just yet. We’ll have to wait for the first human explorers (which will be scientists) to make it a bit more human friendly first.

You can follow Nat on Twitter @nataliealowson for more great Astro facts (and we suggest you do!)

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