Can you tell me a little about yourself?
My name is Laurel Weiss and I’m a student at Penn State and grew up in New Jersey. I’m an astrophysics & astronomy major going into my Junior year. I really like being outside, taking walks without a destination in mind. I also really like interior design. If I had unlimited money, I could go wild here with the Danish style. I like decorating spaces and I’ve even been commissioned by friends to set up and decorate their dorms. I enjoy fly fishing, Penn State also a program but this is also something I used to do with my dad a lot.
How did you get interested in astronomy?
I think every kid is at least a little interested in space because it is so cool. For the longest time I wanted to be an interior designer and architect. But I fell in love with my physics classes in high school, which led me to wanting more. Astronomy combined what I enjoyed working on and learning about with the romanticized sci-fi topic of space. I really love making plots and thinking about how to do things better.
What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? Dawn?
I’ve enjoyed exploring the city, both on foot and by bike, finding new cool spots, cafes, and streets. It is such a big city that you never run out of discovering new spaces. I like the laid back, open, and collaborative atmosphere at the Cosmic Dawn Center. It has a very relaxed feeling but at the same time everyone is doing really cool stuff. Oh, and they have really cool windows here too.
What motivated you to apply to an international REU?
I never thought that I would do an REU. I really wanted to study abroad, but I couldn’t justify picking up and leaving the people and work at home because I enjoyed it so much. This was a really awesome combination of both worlds, where I could continue to do research but also go abroad and see new places. This is pretty surreal to me, you never think you’d be that person in your twenties to live in Europe, but here I am.
Can you tell me about your summer research project?
I’m working Dr. Thomas Greve and we are looking the environments of high-redshift radio galaxies. We are seeing if the over-densities of 850 micron selected sub-millimeter sources changes with redshift. These galaxies are typically very massive, so we might find higher over-densities later in the universe.
What skills and knowledge would you like to acquire this summer?
I think what I am learning a lot more about this summer is how to do a project independently, in that my mentor will give me a list of things to do and set me free. I figure out how to do it, accidentally break things, and then fix them again. It is rewarding in a way because a lot of it is on me, but it is also terrifying because it is on me. But just learning how to handle this and be successful is what I’m most looking forward to mastering.
If you could have any superpower what would it be?
I would love to be able to control the weather and the elements. There is nothing more devastating than being so excited to go outside and do an activity and then you look out the window and it is down pouring or it is bitter cold. But if I could control it…