Clubs organizations:

SACNAS, PISCES
Outreach events: Gemini + Journey Through the Universe, Astroday, etc.
Volunteer at the VIS and for MK Observatories
William Putnam competition

Where you are now and what you're doing:

Jansky Fellow postdoc at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia

Areas of specialty:

- Research: Active galaxies, ISM of Galaxies, Radio Recombination lines, Radio Astronomy, Spectroscopy, High energy neutrinos

Places you have worked, interned or traveled to for your career:

- Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory in La Serena, Chile (2012)
- Science intern, Gemini Observatory (2012-2013)
- Arizona State University (Masters of Science, Astrophysics), (2013-2015)
- Intern at Hamburg Observatory, Germany (2014)
- Leiden Observatory, Netherlands (2015-2019)
- conferences: Netherlands, Italy, UK, France, Germany, USA (California, Boston, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Washington DC)
- observing with the GMRT telescope, India (2018)

Bio:

You can call me Kim or Kimi. I’m originally from Pennsylvania and completed my undergraduate at UH Hilo. I then worked as a science intern at Gemini for a year before doing my graduate studies at Arizona State University and the Leiden Observatory. I’m fairly athletic. I love plants (gardening) and nature (exploring it), as well as cooking. I also really like working with kiddos in astronomy outreach. I find academic research fun, interesting and stimulating. I think its highly worthwhile to pursue, even if the end goal is not to stay in academia. I encourage you to try it out for yourself! Please write me if you have any questions (especially about academia, internships, research opportunities). I’m very happy to provide any help that I can.

What attracted you to UH Hilo Physics & Astronomy?

- proximity to the observatories - small size of the department (care and attention that you wont find in larger departments) - Hawaiian culture - nature of Hawaii

Advice for prospective/current students of UH Hilo Physics & Astronomy:

- Volunteer to co-observe at the observatories on Mauna Kea
- take the initiative to find research projects - get experience doing research (even if you feel like you don't know what you are doing!). it provides valuable life tools
- don't hesitate to contact me (and others) if you have any questions about the field! (networking really helps, especially when coming from a smaller department)
- apply for summer internships. in many cases, they are looking to give opportunities to students from smaller universities
- there is a lot of value in continuing on with astronomy research (e.g. doing PhD, etc) even if you don't or don't want to become a professor
- regularly involve yourself in the community

Update:

NRAO Jansky Fello

Congratulations! "Kimberly Emig completed her Ph.D. at the Leiden Observatory with Alexander Tielens and Huub Rottgering. She explores the dynamical evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) and its coupling with star formation largely through an expertise in radio recombination lines. Kimberly has demonstrated that radio recombination lines are viable pathways to probe the physical properties of the ISM out to cosmological distances. As a Jansky Fellow at NRAO in Charlottesville, she will use radio recombination line observations in large populations of galaxies and in the local ISM to investigate the characteristics of photo-ionized gas, its relationship to massive stars, and its role in the evolution of galaxies."

Website:

http://astro.kim

Email address: kim@astro.kim

(Updated September 2018)