Sophia K
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (UNC Chapel Hill)

Expertise

Astrophysics, Astronomy

Bio

Hello! I am originally from Boston, MA (go sox) now living in Savannah, GA. I went to Boston University for my undergraduate where I double majored in Astronomy & Physics and Painting. Afterwards, I interned at NASA's Johnson Space Center where I helped automate spaceflight controls for the Artemis program. Now, I'm an Astrophysics grad student at UNC-Chapel Hill (go heels). When I'm not thinking about stars, I love to paint on my porch, take care of my pandemic-plant-babies and eat tacos.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Intro to Astronomical Imaging

A huge part of astronomy is working with pictures taken from telescopes! The projects goal is to retrieve archival data, learn how to handle fits images, and derive cloud and/or star information. This project would be a helpful introduction to any aspiring astronomer. Astronomical images would be retrieved from Hubble, Herschel, and Spitzer.

Coding skills

Python, IDL, Linux

Teaching experience

I mentored freshman physics students at a college level. The hope was to increase the retention rate of physics students by providing emotional and academic support. I have worked as a teaching assistant for two years now, both for introductory astronomy and intro physics courses. This meant creating teachable content, working with students, conducting labs, and grading. I have worked with Grad2Undergrad, a group designed to help minority and underrepresented undergraduate student in physics. We help apply to grants and scholarships, and work with students to get them where they want to go.