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Science is often portrayed as a solitary affair, where discoveries are made by lone geniuses toiling in isolation. But Dr. Natasha Batalha, an astronomer at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, says solving problems with the people around her is one of the best parts of her job.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cOh, man, working with people is all I do!\u201d said Batalha, whose current research involves using NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope to study exoplanets, planets outside our solar system that orbit other stars.<\/p>\n
Batalha\u2019s work explores hot, Jupiter-like exoplanets; smaller, rocky exoplanets more similar to Earth; and brown dwarfs, mysterious objects smaller than a star but huge compared to the biggest planets. A single question has driven her since she was a kid: \u201cDoes life exist beyond Earth?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a lofty question, bigger than any one scientist. And that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love being part of a larger community,\u201d she said, \u201cWe\u2019re working together to try to solve this question that people have been asking for centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the particular joy of belonging wasn\u2019t always present in Batalha\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
When she was 10, her family moved from Brazil to the U.S., where she was met with culture shock, pressure to assimilate, and a language barrier. She thinks the latter is partly why she gravitated toward the universal language of math.<\/p>\n
Eventually, her interests and strengths took shape around astronomy. When she chose to study physics in college, followed by a dual PhD in astronomy and astrobiology, her parents \u2013 who are also scientists \u2013 helped fill in for the community she was otherwise lacking.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn high school, I watched female students drop out of my physics classes,\u201d Batalha said. \u201cThe honors physics track in college was devoid of women and people of color. I didn\u2019t feel I had a community in my college classes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mother,\u00a0Natalie Batalha,\u00a0is an astronomer\u00a0who served as project scientist for NASA\u2019s\u00a0Kepler space telescope\u2013 the mission that taught us there are\u00a0more planets than stars.\u00a0Natasha\u2019s father is a LatinX physicist. Both her parents had already faced similar challenges in their careers, and having their example to look at of people who had successfully overcome those barriers helped her push on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI identify as female and LatinX, which are both underrepresented groups in STEM,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I also have a ton of privilege because my parents are in the field. That gave me a dual perspective on how powerful community is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natasha Batalha<\/p>\n
NASA Astronomer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Since then, empowering her own science community has been a focus of Batalha\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
She builds open-source tools, like computer programs for interpreting data, that are available to all. They help scientists use Webb\u2019s exoplanet data to study what climates they may have, the behavior of clouds in their atmospheres, and the chemistry at work there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw how limiting closed toolsets could be for the community, when only an \u2018inner circle\u2019 had access to them,\u201d Batalha said. \u201cSo, I wanted to create new tools that would put everyone on the same footing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Batalha herself recently used Webb to explore the skies of exoplanet WASP-39 b, a hot gas giant orbiting a star 700 light-years away. She is part of the team that found carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide there, marking the first time either was detected in an exoplanet atmosphere. Now, she is turning to the difficult-to-discern characteristics of smaller, cooler planets.<\/p>\n
Batalha says she\u2019s exactly where her 6th<\/sup>-grade self imagined she would be. In elementary school, she read a biography of NASA astronaut Sally Ride and was hooked by an idea it contained: that in 20 years the kids reading those words could be the ones pioneering the search for life on Mars.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s youth belong to the Artemis Generation, who will explore farther than people have ever gone before. The Artemis program will send the first woman and first person of color to the lunar surface. Missions over time will build a presence at the Moon to unlock a new era of science and prepare for human missions to Mars and beyond. Along the way, scientists will continue to search for signs of life beyond Earth, an endeavor building on the work of many generations and relying on those in the future to carry on the search.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something really rewarding about my work at NASA,\u201d she said. \u201cThese questions have been asked throughout human history and, by joining the effort to answer them, you\u2019re taking the baton for a while, before passing it on to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n