Jennifer Wiseman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jennifer J. Wiseman
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| Alma mater | MIT Harvard University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | Johns Hopkins University NASA Headquarters NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center |
Jennifer J. Wiseman is an American astronomer and a top scientist working on the famous Hubble Space Telescope. She helps guide the scientific work of this amazing telescope.
Jennifer was born in a small town called Mountain Home, Arkansas. She loved learning and went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she earned a college degree in physics. Later, she got an advanced degree (a Ph.D.) in Astronomy from Harvard University in 1995.
Even before finishing her college degree, Jennifer made an exciting discovery! In 1987, while helping with research, she found a comet. It was named 114P/Wiseman-Skiff after her and another astronomer.
Today, Jennifer is a senior astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. An astrophysicist is a scientist who studies space, stars, and galaxies using physics. She is the Senior Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope, which means she helps decide what the telescope observes and makes sure its science goals are met. Before this, she led a special lab that studied planets outside our solar system (called exoplanets) and how stars are born.
Jennifer studies areas in our galaxy where new stars are forming. She uses different types of telescopes, like radio, optical (light), and infrared (heat) telescopes. She is especially interested in giant clouds of gas and dust where stars begin, very young stars (called protostars), and powerful jets of gas that shoot out from these young stars. She even led a big project that mapped out a star-forming region in the constellation Orion.
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Sharing Science with Everyone
Jennifer Wiseman also cares a lot about sharing science with the public and helping people understand how science works.
Science Policy and Public Talks
She has worked to connect science with government decisions, serving as a special science helper for the American Physical Society. She was also an elected member of the American Astronomical Society, helping to guide astronomers. She has led discussions for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which is a big group that promotes science.
Jennifer loves to give talks about the wonders of astronomy and the excitement of scientific discoveries. She has appeared in many news and science programs, like The New York Times, The Washington Post, NOVA, and National Public Radio. She was also featured in a project called The Purposeful Universe, which was supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
Science and Faith
Jennifer is a Christian and is part of groups that explore how science and faith can work together. She is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation and a member of the BioLogos Board of Directors.
From 2010 to 2022, Jennifer was the director of a program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) called "Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion." In this role, she spoke to many groups about her views on Christianity and science.
Awards and Recognition
Jennifer Wiseman has received important awards for her work:
- Hubble Fellow - 1998
- Jansky Fellow - 1995
See also
In Spanish: Jennifer Wiseman para niños
- List of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects
