Jedidah Isler
Jedidah C. Isler is an American astrophysicist and educator. She conducts research on blazars (hyperactive supermassive black holes)[1] and examines the jet streams emanating from them.[2] She is currently an Assistant professor of Astrophysics at Dartmouth College.[3] She completed a PhD in Astrophysics at Yale in 2014, becoming the first African-American woman to do so.[2]
Jedidah C. Isler Ph.D. | |
---|---|
Citizenship | United States |
Alma mater | Norfolk State University (B.S.) Fisk University (M.A.) Yale University (M.S.,Ph.D.) |
Known for | Yale University's first African-American woman to earn a PhD in Astrophysics |
Awards | Kavli Foundation Fellowship (2016), Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (2012), National Science Foundation (2007) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astrophysics |
Institutions | Vanderbilt University, Syracuse University, Dartmouth College |
Thesis | In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion: Probing the Disk-Jet Connection in Fermi Gamma-Ray Bright Blazars |
Website | jedidahislerphd.com |
Early life and education
Isler was raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia[4] and has a sister.[1] When she was 12 years old, she discovered the scientific field of astronomy and began to study for a professional career in science.[5]
Isler's father left the family shortly before she left for college, sparking financial turmoil that threatened to cut her studies short.[1] She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's of science in physics at Norfolk State University's Dozoretz National Institute for Mathematics and Applied Sciences (DNIMAS), "a program aimed at cultivating minority scientists who want to complete graduate-level work."[4] From there, she became one of the first three student members of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master's-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, a program designed to increase the number of women and under-represented minorities with advanced STEM degrees.[6] Under the tutelage of Keivan Stassun, she earned a master's of art degree in physics from Fisk University.
At Yale University, she earned a Master's of Science in physics, and subsequently began her doctoral studies in astrophysics, researching blazars. She became the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Yale.[5][7][8] In an NPR interview, she recalled an exchange with one of her classmates during her first year at Yale. "So there are plates everywhere," she recalls. "And all of a sudden, [a white male student] in my class hands me a pile of his dirty plates...and says, 'Here, now go and do what you're really here to do.'"[6] In 2014, Isler published her doctoral dissertation, In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion: Probing the Disk-Jet Connection in Fermi Gamma-Ray Bright Blazars,[9] which earned the Roger Doxsey Dissertation Prize from the American Astronomical Society.[10]
In an interview with Vanity Fair, she cited her role models as Dr. Mae Jamison, Dr. Beth Brown, and her mother.[11]
Career
Isler is the recipient of numerous prestigious fellowships.
After achieving her PhD, Isler went on to conduct her research through a number of postdoctoral research appointments. From 2013 to 2015, Isler "completed a two-year Chancellor’s Faculty Fellowship at Syracuse University".[4] In 2014, Isler was also awarded the Future Faculty Leaders Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University's Center for Astrophysics.[12] In 2015, Isler won a National Science Foundation (NSF) Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship, conducting her research[13] in the Physics and Astronomy Department at Vanderbilt University.
In 2015, Isler was awarded a TED Fellowship.[14] She is a 2016 National Geographic Emerging Explorer,[15] and became a TED Senior Fellow in 2017.[16]
In 2018, Isler became an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College.[3]
Blazar research
Isler's work seeks "... to research blazars and better understand the jets they shoot out nearly at the speed of light".[4][17] Isler states that her research
focuses on understanding how Nature does particle acceleration. I use blazars –supermassive black holes at the centers of massive galaxies that “spin up” jets of particles moving at nearly the speed of light – as my laboratory. By obtaining observations across the electromagnetic spectrum: from radio, optical and all the way through to gamma-rays, I piece together how and why these black holes are able to create such efficient particle accelerators and, by extension, understand the Universe a tiny bit better. I’m also very interested in and active about creating more equitable STEM spaces for scholars of color broadly, and particularly, for women of color.[3]
STEM advocacy
In 2015, Isler founded Vanguard: Conversations with Women of Color in STEM (VanguardSTEM),[18] "a live, monthly web-series featuring a rotating panel of women of color in STEM discussing a wide variety of topics including their research interests, wisdom, advice, tips, tricks and commentary on current events". VanguardSTEM is a flagship initiative of Isler's nonprofit organization, The STEM en Route to Change Foundation (The SeRCH Foundation, Inc.), whose mission is "to use science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as a tool for social justice".[19]
In 2015, Isler delivered a TED Talk on issues of intersectionality, specifically the marginalization of Black women in STEM industries and education, noting that:
According to Dr. Claudia J. Alexander's archive of African-American women in physics, only 18 black women in the United States had ever earned a Ph.D. in a physics-related discipline, and that the first black woman to graduate with a Ph.D. in an astronomy-related field did so just one year before my birth."[20]
Isler wrote a New York Times op-ed on "The ‘Benefits’ of Black Physics Students" in 2015.[21] She was featured in Vanity Fair in 2016 in a profile called "Saluting a New Guard of S.T.E.M Stars."[11]
Television
Isler has appeared in two episodes of the documentary television series How the Universe Works, describing astronomical phenomena and explaining astrophysics theories.[22] She also has appeared in the television series Genius by Stephen Hawking,[23] and National Geographic television series Mars.
Honors and awards
- Senior TED Fellow, 2017[16]
- The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans, 2016[24]
- National Geographic Emerging Explorer, 2016[15][25]
- Kavli Fellow Frontiers of Science Symposium, November 2016
- Curator & Host TED Conference, February 2016
- Host TED@IBM, October 2015
- TED Fellow, 2015[14]
- American Astronomical Society Roger Doxsey Dissertation Prize, January 2014
- Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, August 2012
- Edward Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, March 2012
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, June 2007
- NASA-Harriett G. Jenkins Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, June 2007
References
- Mayol, Taylor (2016-09-09). "The Astrophysicist at the Cutting Edge of Black Holes". Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- "Jedidah Isler First African-American Woman To Receive A Yale PhD In Astrophysics". Science World Report. 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- "Jedidah C. Isler | Department of Physics and Astronomy". physics.dartmouth.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- Cook Jenkins, Elizabeth (2016-05-09). "Rising Star". vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
- "Meet Dr Jedidah Isler: The First Black Woman to Graduate from Yale with a PhD in Astrophysics". 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- "A Graduate Program Works To Diversify The Science World". Code Switch. NPR. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- "Lessons Learned". Vanderbilt Magazine. Vanderbilt University. May 12, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
- "About". jedidahislerphd.com. Jedidah Isler. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
- Isler, Jedidah C. (1 January 2014). In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion: Probing the Disk-Jet Connection in Fermi Gamma-ray Bright Blazars (Thesis). Yale University. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- "Rodger Doxsey Travel Prize". AAS.org. American Astronomical Society. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
- "Saluting a New Guard of S.T.E.M. Stars". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- "Jedidah Isler, Ph.D. | Brief CV". Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- "Rising Star". Atavist. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- "Meet the 2015 class of TED Fellows and Senior Fellows". TED Blog. 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- Society, National Geographic. "Learn more about Jedidah Isler". www.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- "Meet the 2017 class of TED Fellows and Senior Fellows". TED Blog. 2017-01-10. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- "Some Bizarre Black Holes Put On Light Shows". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- "About Us". VanguardSTEM. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- "The SeRCH Foundation". VanguardSTEM. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- Isler, Jedidah (2015). "The untapped genius that could change science for the better". TED.com. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
- Isler, Jedidah. "The 'Benefits' of Black Physics Students". The New York Times.
- "How the Universe Works". IMDb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
- "Genius by Stephen Hawking". IMDb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
- "The Root 100 – 2016". The Root. 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- "Four TED Fellows named 2016 National Geographic Emerging Explorers". TED Blog. 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2020-07-12.