Tell me a little about yourself.
I am from Puerto Rico and currently a senior at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez. I already graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree this past spring, but I am completing a second degree in Physics now.
I was a cheerleader at university and a gymnast growing up so I naturally gravitated towards enjoying hobbies in a lot of sports and spending time outdoors. I’ve had a beach 20 minutes away at any given point in my life, so I also love to spend time there.
How did you get interested in astronomy?
I was always interested in astronomy growing up. I remember getting an award in high school and one of the speakers was a Puerto Rican astrophysicist. They inspired me to realize this could be my career. Through the University of Puerto Rico there were no direct options to go into Astronomy, hence I found myself in Mechanical Engineering. In my 3rd year of university, amid the aftermath of the hurricane, I applied and got accepted into an internship program at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Mechanical Engineering, where I worked with the Perseverance Rover. That was a really great experience for me but I still wanted to do stuff more closely related to astrophysics so when I got back from JPL I applied for the double major in Physics and minor in Astronomy.
What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? DAWN?
I was thinking about this a lot as my time is winding down here in Copenhagen and I’m not ready to go home. First, I identify with the culture here. The city is so well planned and efficient. Copenhagen is the perfect ratio between city and trees/rivers/nature. I wouldn't survive if I can’t see green; the city has a good balance. I love the accessibility of the buses/metro and biking everywhere too!
I feel extremely fortunate to work in a place where everyone is so welcoming. DAWN members treat everyone like they belong, creating a strong sense of community. Everyone is really friendly at DAWN, so it really pushes you to interact with people/make connections, which is great specially for younger career professionals.
What motivated you to apply to an international REU?
I found the DAWN-IRES summer program through a thread on Twitter that was specific to international opportunities. This is my last summer to gain REU experience and what is better than doing it while you are in Europe? It is hard to come to Europe from Puerto Rico (it is expensive), making this international REU even more appealing.
Can you tell me about your summer research project?
I am working with Aswin Vijayan at DAWN/DTU this summer. We are working with FLARES hydrodynamic simulation and investigating the efficiency of stellar formation in different environments.
What skills and knowledge would you like to acquire this summer?
I still have a lot to learn with a steep learning curve. I have done programming before but I keep being proven I know nothing — I would like to improve my programming skills. It is a never ending project!
If you could have any superpower what would it be?
I would like to be able to read minds — not in a devious way. I under communicate a lot and think a lot and later realize I wasn’t on the same page. It would be so great to communicate better!
Follow Rebeca on Twitter @rebecastr8