Diff for "LifeOnOtherPlanets"

Life On Other Planets

A Memoir of Finding My Place In the Universe

Aomawa Shields 2023 - Bvtn Lib 520.92 SHI

• NO INDEX

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aomawa_Shields

• Formal Biography

• aomawashields.com newer website

• https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/shields/ \ UC Irvine professional site

• Rising Stargirls

• variablestargirl.com older

• Thesis The Effect of Star-Planet Interactions on Planetary Climate

• graduated Exeter 1993 18yo hence born ~1975

• Sc.B. Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from MIT in 1997
• MFA Acting UCLA in 2001
• Ph.D. Astronomy and Astrobiology from the University of Washington in 2014
• U Cal Irvine in 2017
• Husband Steven
• 007 looked up at stars. 8yo, wanted to be a white Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, then secretary
• 008 Mother PhD music theory prof at Amherst, estranged from envious family
• 009 Father also musician, parents invented name Aomawa Lalahie out of vowel sounds
• 010 parents divorced when Aomawa 2yo / then remarried: brother 10 years younger / remarried again: sister 21 years younger / toured Europe in 2010 and 2019
• 012 Mother professor, spent salary on expensive clothes, cosmetics, toys, not end-of-month food or trips
• 013 Grandmother Delphine 1930s math major at Tennessee State U. historically Black college
  • 015 worked with numbers at Miramar Naval Air Station

• 016 Top Gun film, astrophysicist PhD teacher inspires young A.S.

• 018 World Book Encyclopedia at home

• 022 astronomy at Exeter, instructor Chris Harper

• 030 Exeter chamber orchestra violin, played Truvy in Exeter school play Steel Magnolias

• 033 parents met at Antioch, band Pyramids?? Idris Ackamoor??

• 034 A.S. disliked uncertainty ... and jazz
• 037 Challenger explosion during Exeter Junior year

• 040 understudy Barbara Morgan Teacher in Space, NSF women and minorities in science and engineering, leading to grants for Dr. Shields

• 042 graduation, won Perry cup
• 047 admitted early decision MIT

• 048 MIT Infinite Corridor

• 049 MIT course numbers 8 Physics, 12 EAPS Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

• 052 trouble with statistical mechanics partition function

• 052 Advisor Jim Elliot Uranus rings, Pluto atmosphere

• 053 Mass Ave Bridge 364.4 smoots Oliver Smoot 5 foot 7 inch

• 057 Jan MIT astronomy field camp to Lowell Observatory, Deidre Hunter

• 058 IC 1613 irregular dwarf galaxy Wolf-Rayet star DR1

• 062 Five hour to bottom of Grand Canyon, Phantom Ranch

• 064 Summer internship at JPL (1994?) Observational Systems Group Mike Shao

• 064 Apollo anorthosite rocks dated Moon's age as 4.46GY (Earth 4.54GY), ejecta from Mars-sized impactor into Earth

• 065 Following summer (1995) w/ MIT Ron Remillard classifying hard X-ray sources

• 065 Following summer (1996) w/ Arecibo Mike Nolan, prep for Hurricane Bertha

• 068 Burchard Scholar, one of 35 students, yearlong humanities enrichment

• 069 Acapella group, pi to 15(?) decimal places

• 070 read plays, "air of pretension",

• 071 Senior thesis, paper with Bruce Elmegreen The relationship between gas, stars, and star formation in irregular galaxies: A test of simple models Accepted 1997, APJ 1998 Feb 1

• 072 late summer 1997 Eric Wilcots Linda Sparke U Wis Madison

• 075 two bedroom bug-infested top floor of house, $600/mo. out of $1000/mo stipend age 22

• 076 daydreamed of Zora Neale Hurston biopic acting, aced atomic physics, poor astrophysics grades

• 079 applied to acting graduate schools, failed audition in Denver . 082 invited to (underfunded) UCLA acting program
• 083 "reached out to Deidre for support" ... Deidre Hunter pp 57-60
• 084 "pots and pans sent by Nancy" from Madison ... Nancy who? Astronomy grad student at Madison. Why mention name? There are 2.2 MILLION Nancy's in the US.
• 086 "In graduate school for acting, I came alive" . 87 dept.chair Mel Shapiro 088 screechy violin "concerto"

.08 One Song Glory

• 089 Learned accents and postures and movement .
• 090 Yearly faculty review, wore blazer instead of sweatpants, admonished, got mad, cry-yelled at instructors
• 091 showcase before agents . one person show for master's thesis project: chalkboard astronomy with famous lines from movies, as if Tourettes