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Intelligence in Astronomy: Preview 1

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A big stage
As my mentor Sara Seager recently told me, my appointment at Harvard is a huge honor, a huge opportunity and also a huge responsibility. I have been given tremendous resources and a highly supportive department with strong leadership. I also have a big, highly visible stage on which to perform. On the research front, I have ambitious plans to discover and characterize the nearest Earth-like planets using existing and new instrumentation (Project Minerva), with an eye toward the NASA TESS mission and JWST. My goal is to make the discoveries and do the careful statistical analyses necessary to advance our knowledge of the formation and evolution of planets like our own.

My opportunities and responsibilities do not end there, nor do my ambitions. Here's an exerpt from my recently updated teaching statement:
I recognize that just because institutions produce good outcomes does not mean that those institutions are optimized. Astronomy is an excellent, yet non-optimized institution. I will work optimize the scientific productivity of Astronomy through a better understanding of the psychological and sociological factors that lead astronomers to not only succeed, but thrive in their careers.
I will work on this optimization process in my department (with the full support of my new department chair, Avi Loeb, and my fellow faculty members), on the various committees on which I serve including the AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy, and right here on this blog.

Starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I will publish a series of posts that I've been working on over the past month. My focus will be on the optimization of the field of astronomy with an eye toward untapped research potential, creativity and overall success in academia. Stay tuned!
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