Brittany Kamai facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brittany Kamai
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Kamai on Global Science TV in 2020
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| Born | |
| Alma mater | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Fisk University University of Chicago Vanderbilt University |
| Known for | Founder, #ShutDownSTEM |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics (astrophysics) |
| Institutions | Caltech University of California, Santa Cruz |
| Thesis | "Hunting for MHz Gravitational Waves with the Fermilab Holometer" (2016) |
| Doctoral advisor | Andreas A. Berlind (Vanderbilt) |
Brittany Lehua Kamai is an American scientist who studies space, called an astrophysicist. She is also an activist who works for fairness and justice for all people. Dr. Kamai is a special researcher, known as a postdoctoral fellow, at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the California Institute of Technology.
She started a movement called #ShutDownSTEM. This was part of a bigger protest called the Strike for Black Lives that happened on June 10, 2020. Brittany Kamai is a Native Hawaiian. She grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and went to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She earned her Master of Arts degree from Fisk University and her PhD from Vanderbilt University. She is one of the very few Native Hawaiians to earn a doctorate in astrophysics.
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Growing Up and Learning
Brittany Kamai grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. She went to President Theodore Roosevelt High School. After high school, she studied physics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. While there, she also played water polo for her university team.
She then continued her studies and earned her Master of Arts degree from Fisk University in 2011. She also attended graduate school at the University of Chicago. During this time, she worked at a famous science lab called Fermilab. In 2016, she earned her PhD from Vanderbilt University.
For her PhD research, Dr. Kamai used a special instrument at Fermilab called the Holometer. She used it to look for tiny ripples in space-time, called gravitational waves. These waves were in a specific frequency range, like a certain sound pitch.
It's a big achievement that Dr. Kamai is only the second Native Hawaiian to earn a doctorate in astrophysics. She is also the third Native Hawaiian to earn a PhD in physics. She was part of a special program that helped students go from a master's degree to a PhD.
Her Work as a Scientist
As of June 2020, Dr. Kamai was working as a postdoctoral researcher at two universities at the same time. These were the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the California Institute of Technology.
She is part of a research team that works with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. This observatory uses giant lasers to detect gravitational waves. Her research focuses on making better tools and instruments to find these waves.
#ShutDownSTEM: Making Science Fair for Everyone
Brittany Kamai is a Native Hawaiian woman of color. In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, she helped start a movement called #ShutDownSTEM to Strike for Black Lives.
This initiative asked people working in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to stop their regular work for one day, on June 10. Instead, they were asked to spend the day learning about and working to stop unfair treatment against Black people in science. This event received support from scientists all over the world.
Awards and Recognitions
Dr. Kamai has received several important awards for her work:
- She received a Heising-Simons Fellowship. This fellowship allowed her to work at both Caltech and the University of California, Santa Cruz.
- In 2018, she was named a National Academy of Sciences’ Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow. This is a special honor for young scientists.
- She also received the National Academy of Sciences’ Ford Dissertation Fellowship.
