#1 - Lifting Off into Professor Mode with Astronomy Professor Sarah Ballard

Sarah Ballard (@hubbabubble) is a Professor of Astronomy at the University of Florida. Over a decade ago, she took an astronomy class at UC Berkeley to fulfill a freshman science requirement, but was quickly drawn into the study of the universe. She’s since established herself in the field of astrophysics as an “exoplaneteer,” having taken part in the discovery of four exoplanets (planets orbiting stars other than the Sun). She did her graduate studies at Harvard and has been a Torres Fellow at MIT, a L'Oreal Fellow, and a NASA Carl Sagan Fellow.What her stellar CV won’t tell you is that her road to becoming professor was rocky to say the least. In this episode, Sarah shares her journey as a victim of sexual harassment and later a named complainant in a Title IX case, why academia is worth salvaging, and her dedication to making science culture more equitable. Sarah's Twitter: twitter.com/hubbahubble DiscountsGet 10% off delicious local farm-fresh food delivered to your door with my link for FarmMatch: https://farmmatch.com/jane Get 15% off high-quality Italian olive oil with code FARMTOFUTURE: https://shop.vignolifood.com/FARMTOFUTUREGet 40% the CircleDNA’s Premium DNA test with code JANEZHANG: https://circledna.com/premium Connect with Jane Z. Instagram: @farm.to.futureEmail: [email protected]: farmtofuture.co