60. Amplifying Black Voices in Astronomy

The Research Her

Today’s conversation with Ashley Walker discusses the complexities of Saturn’s icy moon, Titan, different space missions, and promoting more Black and Brown people to be in these same spaces during planetary atmospheres. Walker is the co-founder of Black in Chem and tells us the ups and downs with Chemistry and Engineering News. In addition to Black in Chem, she also explains being a part of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy, being the first all people of color committee in CSMA’s history. Lastly, Walker talks about the making of a People of Color planetarium coming soon to Chicago!

In this episode we discuss:

• Aerosol analogs
• The Stratosphere
• Black in Chem
• Future of Black Women in Astronomy

More About Ashley Walker

Ashley L. Walker is an astrochemist, planetary scientist, and science communicator from the south side of Chicago, IL. She received her B.S. in Chemistry with an Astrochemistry emphasis from Chicago State University. Ashley has interned at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University while studying the ice chemistry of early planet formation and understanding the prebiotic chemistry on Saturn’s moon, Titan. She was a post-baccalaureate scholar at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Spice Lab. In the Spice Lab, she specialized in the cloud chemistry of planetary atmosphere on Saturn's moon, Titan. She has been featured in an array of interviews which includes Faces of NASA, Scientific American, BBC America’s “Space Week”, and Katie Couric’s “Thank-you Notes”. She advocates for students and highlights Black junior scientists during Black History Month. She is also the founder of #BlackInAstro week, co-founder of #BlackInChem week, and a committee member for both the Women Of Color Project and the American Astronomical Society Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy.

Connect with her:

Instagram:@That_Astro_Chic

Twitter:@That_Astro_Chic

Connect with me:

Website: TheResearchHer.com

TikTok: @TheResearchHer

Instagram: @TheResearchHer

Twitter: @TheResearchHer

Facebook: @TheResearchHer

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