Dr. Sara Seager: Women in STEM Wednesday Spotlight

This season, I will be featuring some of the amazing women I meet through Women in STEM Wednesday segments. Today, I'd like to highlight the amazing Dr. Sara Seager, who we recently interviewed for our upcoming show on exoplanets.

Professor Seager is a famous astrophysicist and planetary scientist at MIT. She has an incredible TEDx talk on "The Real Search for Alien Life" that you should definitely watch.

Professor Seager received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Toronto. She went on to get her PhD in Astronomy from Harvard.

She is a rockstar when it comes to the search for unknown worlds outside of our solar system.  Her ground-breaking research ranges from the detection of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts. Professor Seager has been called the "astronomical Indiana Jones", as she is on a quest to discover the astrophysicist's holy grail, the discovery of a true Earth twin.

I was able to pose a few questions to Professor Seager.

What excites you about your work on exoplanets?

The adventure of discovery. Sometimes I am looking for one thing, but find something else that is completely new.
 

Did you always like STEM growing up? 

I was always curious about the world around me but only got interested in science once in high school chemistry.
 

What's your favorite hobby?

Outdoor activities in nature, including x-c skiing ("off trail"), hiking, canoeing and spending time with friends.
 

What fun quality of STEM do you think would surprise most students?

The satisfaction of solving a hard problem; answering your own questions. I think people would be surprised by moments of silliness and humor scientists can have when working together.

Thanks to Professor Sara Seager for her involvement in Xploration Outer Space and Women in STEM Wednesdays. Learn more about this role model on Season 2 of Xploration Outer Space!

If you liked this, check out my other Women in STEM Wonder Women below:

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