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Luisa Rebull

Dr. Luisa Rebull

Luisa Rebull

Caltech, Pasadena, California


Job Title

Associate Research Scientist


Bio

I've always wanted to be an astronomer, ever since I was very little. I went to William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA and majored in physics. (I took a lot of colonial American history too.) I went to grad school in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago. In college, math was a tool to be gotten through as soon as possible so you could get to the physics, and in graduate school, physics was a tool to be gotten through as soon as possible so you could get to the astrophysics!

My research focuses on young, low-mass stars all over our Galaxy, using Spitzer as well as many other telescopes. I study how they form, how their disks form and evolve, and how young stars and their disks change with time, specifically their rotation and accretion. As of April 2013, I have 85 refereed publications and an h-index of 33.

I really enjoy sharing what I do with the general public. I feel strongly that since taxpayers help pay for my salary, that they deserve to find out what I do in terms that they can understand. I've done lots of education and public outreach things, but a unifying theme is working with the general public and/or teachers (not so much working in a classroom).  In the 90s, I helped found an organization called CUIP that brought the internet (T-1 lines) to 29 inner-city schools around the University of Chicago, and I worked intensively with scientist-teacher partnerships as part of that program; CUIP continues to work with the teachers to enhance teaching and learning through the use of the internet and other computer technologies. When the Spitzer Space Telescope Research Program for Teachers and Students started, I was totally and immediately on board. That program eventually evolved into NITARP.  I've mentored several teacher teams, linked below. Between NITARP, the Spitzer program, and CUIP, I've been working in and learning from scientist-teacher partnerships for more than 15 years.


Teams


Events


News


Quotes

  • The teachers who I have met through NITARP are just amazing. I am continually impressed by how hard they work and how enthusiastically they learn.

View all program quotes

We're back from the Jan 2024 AAS and we had a grand time!