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Dr. Taylor Hutchison is an astrophysicist and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She received her bachelor’s degree in physics from Southwestern University and her Master’s and PhD degrees in Astronomy from Texas A&M University. She was the recipient of the Dr. Joseph Newton Graduate Service Award, a University Prestigious Fellowship Scholarship, the Leadership in Equity and Diversity (LEAD) Award, and the Graduate Diversity Excellence Award from Texas A&M University, and she also received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship as well. In this interview, Taylor shares more about her life and science.
People Behind the Science Podcast Show Notes
Life Outside of Science (2:12)
When she’s not working, Taylor engages in a variety of hobbies, crafts, and opportunities to learn new skills. She particularly enjoys reading, hiking, sewing her own clothing, and creatively reusing items that may have otherwise been thrown away. For example, she uses recycled cardboard and newspapers to make baskets and other tools.
The Scientific Side (4:20)
Taylor uses large telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study the most distant galaxies that we can detect in the universe. Her goal is to answer questions like what kinds of stars are inside these galaxies, how massive the galaxies are, and what elements are present.
A Dose of Motivation (5:45)
“You become strong by doing the things you need to be strong for.” – Audre Lorde
What Got You Hooked on Science? (8:26)
Growing up, Taylor was inspired by her parents who were self-taught in website development and IT. Their efforts showed her that a person could pursue whatever path they wanted if they worked hard and persevered. Taylor was fascinated with sci-fi, fantasy, astronomy, and solving puzzles as a kid. She excelled at problem solving in her math classes, and when she was introduced to physics, she quickly realized that it involved all of her favorite things about math and allowed her to explain what was happening in the world. During college, one of Taylor’s professors invited her to help out at the observatory at the school. He showed Taylor how astronomy and astrophysics used all of her favorite parts of physics and math, and it could explain aspects of the universe. She really enjoyed spending summer nights opening up the observatory dome and using the telescope to observe distant galaxies. This professor also urged her to consider graduate school. With encouragement from her professor and her mom, Taylor decided to apply for two nearby graduate programs. Ultimately, she enrolled in the astronomy program at Texas A&M University, and this put her on a path to pursue academic research.
The Low Points: Failures and Challenges (18:24)
A recent challenge that Taylor encountered was related to her research using the James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched into space in 2021. Taylor works with a type of data called spectroscopy which is like a light fingerprint. Every cosmic object in space has a unique light fingerprint that provides information about the chemical composition of a galaxy or star, its size, and other characteristics. However, the data that were collected were really hard to process. There was a lot of “noise” in the data that needed to be removed during data processing (things like stray light from the sun or heat from the instruments), but they didn’t have the tools needed to properly clean and process the data. This was really difficult because she really wanted to get to work answering her scientific questions, but the data had to be cleaned first. Taylor worked with her collaborators to create the machinery for certain steps in the process, and it took about a year. However, it was a wonderful collaborative experience, and the tools they developed have been a valuable resource for the astronomy community.
A Shining Success! (22:11)
When Taylor was wrapping up her graduate work, she began searching and applying for jobs. This transition from graduate school to a postdoctoral fellowship or other position is notoriously difficult. As she went through the process, Taylor realized that there wasn’t really a repository of tools for trainees in her field to make the jump to the next step of their careers. People who had good mentors or access to more resources were more likely to be successful in finding a position than people who didn’t. Taylor decided to aggregate all of the resources and advice she received into a repository for academic postdocs in astronomy and astrophysics, and she shared it with the community. At the time, she wasn’t sure how useful it would be for others. It has been exciting to continue getting feedback, even years later, from people who have benefitted from the resources she shared. Knowing that she helped people apply for and get jobs in the field has been really rewarding
Book Recommendations (3:10)
Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage by Heather Rogers
Most Treasured Travel (25:19)
When she was in graduate school, Taylor had an opportunity to travel to Northern Chile to conduct research using the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), one of the big telescopes at the top of a mountain there. When she arrived in Chile, they spent one night in the small town of La Serena where they enjoyed delicious food and pisco sour cocktails. Then she spent two weeks at the observatory working with colleagues for a large, collaborative international project. Seeing the sun set each night over the horizon from the top of this massive mountain range was beautiful and ethereal, and then they spent the nights observing the cosmos.
Quirky Traditions and Funny Memories (28:25)
One fun activity that became a tradition amongst her graduate school cohort was cooking competitions. They had impromptu competitions to determine who could make the best soup, or rice dish, or other type of cuisine. Each student made their own version of whatever theme was chosen, and then they all got together for a taste test and vote. It was silly, fun, and a great way to try a lot of delicious food.
Advice For Us All (32:13)
Don’t let other people saying something can’t be done stop you from trying to do it. Don’t let others limit you. Also, stay creative and curious, and find joy in what you do. Whether it is science or anything else you are doing in life, make time to revel in the joy of it.
Guest Bio
Taylor studies some of the most distant galaxies in the known Universe, using some of the most massive telescopes on the ground and in space to do so. Most recently, she works with data from the fancy new NASA/ESA/CSA space observatory, JWST, which launched in December 2021. In her work, she studies the characteristics of these distant, ancient galaxies — diving into details such as the types of massive stars that exist within them, measuring the number of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium in the nebular gas, and learning as much as she can about how these galaxies formed and evolved. Outside of her research, Taylor has been described as a frenetic crafter… collecting hobbies as if it’s her second job. Some hobbies include sewing her own clothes, crafting with recyclable & non-recyclable materials (constructing with cardboard, weaving rolled magazine cutouts, making rope from plastic bags, etc), propagating her plants using repurposed plastic bottles, and experimenting with zero waste cooking. She works on these and other hobbies next to her two fluffy cats, occasionally sipping on a warm cup of coffee regardless of the time of day.