I attended the National Diversity in STEM Conference 2024 in Phoenix, AZ, from October 30 to November 2. It was my first conference in the States. I had heard how wonderful the conference is, but experiencing it myself was even better than I had imagined. I presented my astronomy project. I attended workshops that supported my science and work ethic. I met people with whom I had interacted when my goals were still to be determined and got to catch up with their lives. I also made many incredible new friends.

Check out more info about the conference here!

I shed a few tears during the opening ceremony. This quote first moved me.

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Dr. Minerva Cordero’s talk on her journey from a small house in Peurto Rico to pursue math in the United States, her challenges when she didn’t find representation during her master’s degree, and how she finally found her community, and then building her own community was resonating and inspiring. I sat behind a group of participants from Puerto Rico. They raised the Puerto Rican flag to cheer up Dr. Cordero. The hall was full of love and hope. I was overwhelmed by the warmth of the moment.

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Here comes my moment!! An anecdote about my poster presentation is that I finished the project the night before the presentation, ran to FedEx to print it 30 minutes before they closed, and made it!

I didn’t know the format of the poster presentation, so I asked the presenters next to me. I guess that’s how I made friends, haha.

My project is to find what type of stars exploded and became supernova SN 2021qvv, a subluminous Type Ia supernova. (Read this for the details of my project) The two main scenarios are single degenerate (a white dwarf accreting mass from a non-degenerate star) and double degenerate (binary white dwarf mergers).

The atmosphere was very supportive. People who stopped by for my presentation ranged from enthusiasts outside of astronomy to professional astrophysicists. It was fun switching the level of language and details based on who the audience was.

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The most captivating moment for me would be a question from someone outside the field. They pointed at the binary white dwarf figure and asked if we used a gravitational wave signal to determine whether it was a double degenerate scenario. That is actually what I’m most excited about for my pursuit of multi-messenger astrophysics. I then eagerly talked about a space-based gravitational wave detector, LISA, scheduled to launch in the next decade. Being in space, the size of LISA is larger than the size of Earth, which makes the sensitivity cover the range of space-time rippling due to white dwarf mergers. That time, gravitational waves can help confirm my current project whether or not the white dwarf merger is the case. Both of us, literally, got goosebumps.

The idea behind this project is that when people hear “Nuclear physics,” the first thing that comes to mind is bombs, while nuclear physics is the study of how matters are made. The project is a collaboration between MSU and to communicate Nuclear Physics through dancing. (Checkout their website!)

My takeaway from this workshop is that “Science is accessible if we make it accessible.”

I was amazed by the sub-session “The Next Generation Gravitational Wave Observatory Cosmic Explorer: Science in Community,” talking about the approach to choosing a site for the new gravitational-wave detector Cosmic Explorer. Making sure the voices that should be heard will be heard is always my core value. Knowing that community engagement is included in the decision-making process for scientific advancement, like Cosmic Explorer, made me even more excited and hopeful for the field of multi-messenger astrophysics. Most importantly, the community communication director who presented this sub-session is Kathryne Daniel!! I met Kate two years ago while seeking funding for my ethnic astronomy project. It was nice to update her that I finally received funding, and I started with Lakota astronomy in the Black Hills region (Read more). It was so wonderful that our brief talk about temples on an island in Greece inspired me greatly, and now that I’m pursuing multi-messenger astrophysics while holding on to my core values, we crossed paths again. I felt so grateful for life and the random dots I drew, which I didn’t even realize at the time how impactful they could become. I naively asked Dr. Fred Raab what the processes are if I want to build a gravitational-wave observatory in Thailand. Dr. Fred Raab is the former head of LIGO Hanford Observatory. I spent a good 15 minutes talking to me. I feel honored to have learned the insights when he chose India as a site to build a LIGO Observatory in Asia. Honestly, building a gravitational wave observatory in Thailand may sound far beyond possible, haha. But who knows? Life has always brought me further than I could imagine. Dots I drew at this conference and some more I’m drawing in other places might give me a big surprise.