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Last Post 10/25/2017 2:04 PM by  Christina Cohen
Who inspired you?
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Heather





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10/22/2017 7:21 PM
    Heather from CT

    Who inspired you to become a scientist?

    Claire Raftery



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    10/23/2017 8:27 AM
    Hi Heather. I had a number of role models along the way, although not really any idols. More, I had people who inspired me to believe in myself and follow my path. My dad is an engineer and he was definitely an inspiration in creativity and logic, encouraging me to push myself and follow what was a very male-dominated path. While my Mam is not a career woman, she is a very strong woman who can pretty much make anything happen. She instilled in me a drive for opportunity and to go out and make things happen for myself.

    In high school I had a really great math and physics teacher who really helped connecting the dots. I was the only girl in the class and helped me to step up and be counted.

    I don't think anyone inspired me to become a scientist, but I had a lot of people support and inspire me to be the best version of me, which turns out was as a scientist :)

    Hope that helps.

    Lindsay Glesener



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    10/23/2017 10:45 AM
    I don't think I can pick out one person who inspired me to go into science. I'd say it was the interesting nature of the field of physics itself that caught my interest, especially the chance to tackle fascinating math problems. However, there are many people I have met throughout my career who have inspired me, not the least of which was my Ph.D. thesis advisor, Bob Lin. When I knew him, Bob had been doing physics for at least fifty years and had not lost an ounce of enthusiasm for his work and his students. He truly loved the field, and he passed that love of solar physics on to me and to many other people.

    Kris Sigsbee



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    10/23/2017 2:48 PM
    Hello Heather,

    When I was very small, my parents took me on a trip to Florida and we visited the Kennedy Space Center. My Mom says that when we got back home, I was glued to the television any time they showed rockets, astronauts, or space exploration. When I was growing up, we would often go to a local air show and my parents bought me a telescope for Christmas one year. We could also see the aurora fairly often in the town where I grew up in northern Minnesota. When I was in high school, I won a trip to Space Camp by answering trivia questions about space exploration My parents were not scientists, but I guess you could say that they inspired me to become a scientist because provided me with lots of opportunities to learn about astronomy, aviation, and space exploration.

    Christina Cohen



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    10/25/2017 2:04 PM
    Hi,

    One might expect me to say my mother since she was a physicist (and back in the day when there were only literally a handful of women in physics in the whole US). But, honestly, when I was growing up I don’t think I thought of it as being inspired to be a scientist... it was more like a natural expectation and belief that ‘of course, I could be a scientist if I wanted to.’ I never had the doubts about being the only female in science classes - probably because I grew up in the presence of a female scientist and didn’t realize how unique it was.

    I’d say the most important thing in terms of have girls go into science is for them to have female role models - to make it see ‘natural’ for there to be women in all fields of science.

    -Christina
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