{"id":21630,"date":"2022-02-17T13:12:54","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T13:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=21630"},"modified":"2023-06-08T18:21:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T18:21:02","slug":"helping-students-reach-for-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/02\/17\/helping-students-reach-for-the-stars","title":{"rendered":"Helping students reach for the stars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Whether rich or poor, young or old, there is a common experience that humans across the world share: the wonder of the night sky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In times of loneliness, people gaze up at the stars and find solace in the idea that someone, somewhere, is looking at the same sky, at the same moment. 足彩app哪个是正规的 sky is a place where comfort is found, wishes are made and questions are formed. <\/p>\n\n\n\nDr. Joey Shapiro Key, assistant professor of physics in the School of STEM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Part of what makes it so mesmerizing is that there are far more questions about the night sky than there are answers. Dr. Joey Shapiro Key, assistant professor of physics in the University of Washington Bothell\u2019s School of STEM, has been fascinated by the sky since childhood and has sought answers since adolescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She is now paying forward the knowledge from her lifelong curiosity by providing research opportunities to curious students \u2014 just as she once was. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be able to support students in pursuing their interests,\u201d she said. \u201cI understand their passion and want them to realize just how far it can take them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gravitating toward physics <\/h2>\n\n\n\nComet Hale-Bopp from 1997, taken by Key’s physics high school teacher Marc Racicot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
One of Key\u2019s first memories is a road trip from her home on Whidbey Island, Washington, to a desert in California in the early 1980s. Packed in the car with her mother, father and sister, she set out on a 1,000-mile journey to see Halley\u2019s Comet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth,\u201d Key said. \u201cIt only returns to Earth\u2019s vicinity once every 75 or 76 years, so for most, it\u2019s a once in a lifetime event.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up to become an astrophysicist, Key has seen many comets through a telescope since but said that her wonder remains. \u201cI haven\u2019t become immune to it yet and don\u2019t think I ever will,\u201d she said. \u201cMy amazement actually grows with time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also growing is her community of astrophysicists \u2014 thanks in part to her efforts mentoring high school students across the nation who share in her amazement for not just comets but also planets, gravitational waves and black holes. She connects with students in various states through a number of organizations, one of which is the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in Hanford, Washington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
National network <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
UW Bothell is a member of the LIGO scientific collaboration, and Key is one of the faculty members who works on data analysis for the organization. Key has a national reputation and high school students across the United States seek her out, often saying it\u2019s because they want to \u201clearn from the best.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Efi Kotsiou, a high school student from New York, was aware of Key\u2019s stature in the field and reached out to her over email. Key helped her work on a science fair project using resources from the Pulsar Science Collaboratory to examine the characteristics of pulsar systems, studying their rotation, masses and what can be observed about them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Key also sponsors students directly involved in the collaboratory, based in West Virginia. PSC students participate in an online course that teaches them about pulsar science and radio astronomy, and prepares them to become researchers. Once trained, students gain access to radio astronomy data taken by the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, one of the most sensitive instruments in the world for collecting and amplifying the tiny signals from pulsars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWorking with students is one of the most rewarding parts of my job,\u201d Key said. \u201cI am just as grateful to work with them as they are to work with me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What if to what now <\/h2>\n\n\n\nCarol Miu, physics student and member of Key’s research group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Closer to home, Key mentors students from UW Bothell, such as Carol Miu, a returning student at the University. She earned her first bachelor\u2019s in Economics nearly two decades ago and is working as the chief product and analytics officer at PeopleFun, a company that designs mobile games. She decided to return to college to get a bachelor\u2019s in Physics after a year of self-reflection during the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI inherited my love for physics from my dad,\u201d Miu said. \u201cHe passed away in 2017, and I found myself really missing him when we went into isolation. 足彩app哪个是正规的re was nothing to distract me from my grief anymore, and I longed to reconnect with him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miu said she grew up learning about Albert Einstein from her father and drawing pictures of the moon. \u201cMy dad\u2019s passion was infectious. While I love the career I have now, I always wondered what my life would have been like if I had the confidence to pursue physics in higher education,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was always praised in my economics classes and faced a lot of criticism in my physics classes, and as a result had a lot of self-doubt. Now that I am getting older, I don\u2019t want to live with regret, so I figured why not find out?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Headshot](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/key-joey.jpg\")
![\"Halley's](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/halleys-commet.png\")
![\"Headshot](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/carol-miu.jpg\")
![\"Christine](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/ye-christine.jpg\")
![\"Christine](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/ye-keys-presentation.jpg\")