Welcome! My name is Sophia. I started my astronomy career as a physics major in college. I loved quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and statistics in part because of their probabilistic approach to understanding systems, ensembles, and particles. When I first got to see a rest-frame optical AGN emission spectrum as an undergrad, I asked question after question about emission mechanisms, line profiles, and nebular astrophysics. I enjoy the intersection of so many branches of physics in a context where a holistic understanding is necessary to interpret what we observe in nebulae and in other galaxies.

Getting from there to here was not easy. I tried three separate times to get into an astronomy PhD program before I was waitlisted at UMass. I did a Master's program, worked in planetary science, and wrote my first publication in my efforts to progress to the next level. I discovered many barriers to entry for people like me -- transgender, struggling with mental health, socioeconomically disadvantaged. As a result, I have developed a deep empathy for others and an active dedication to representation (diversity), to meeting others where they are (equity), and to ensuring everyone feels that they belong in our community (inclusion).

My PhD experience was heavily impacted by the COVID19 pandemic. Courses and research were fully remote, which forced me to develop my independence as a worker, thinker, researcher, and scientist far earlier than otherwise might have been expected. But my work with mentors and collaborators has opened up the wider astronomical community to me. Through these international connections, I have learned the power of cooperation over competition and the importance of forging long-term relationships with collaborators. While I am passionate about investigating the nature of line-emitting galaxies, I have come to love astronomy as a community of delightfully human scientists.