Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski
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Pasterski in 2017
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| Born | June 3, 1993 |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) Harvard University (PhD) |
| Known for | Spin memory effect PSZ Triangle |
| Awards | Inaugural MIT Freshman Entrepreneurship Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Boeing Phantom Works CERN Perimeter Institute |
| Thesis | Implications of Superrotations (2019) |
| Doctoral advisor | Andrew Strominger |
Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski (born June 3, 1993) is an American theoretical physicist from Chicago. She studies high energy physics, which looks at the smallest particles and forces in the universe. Sabrina is proud to be a first-generation Cuban-American. She also attended Chicago Public Schools.
While at Harvard, Sabrina discovered something called the "spin memory effect." This discovery could help scientists find and understand gravitational waves. These waves are ripples in space and time.
Sabrina finished her college degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in just three years. She was still a teenager when she did this! Later, she earned her PhD from Harvard University. At age 27, she became a professor at the Perimeter Institute.
Sabrina is a very well-known scientist. In 2017, she was the third most trending scientist on Google. She was also named to the Forbes 30 under 30 Science list.
Contents
Early Life and Interests
Sabrina was born in Illinois on June 3, 1993. Her parents are Mark Pasterski and Maria Gonzalez. Her father, who was an engineer and lawyer, always told her to follow her dreams.
Sabrina went to special schools for gifted students. She started at the Edison Regional Gifted Center in 1998. Then, she graduated from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in 2010.
Sabrina's interests go beyond physics. She took her first flying lesson in 2003. By 2006, she started building her own kit aircraft. She flew this plane by herself for the first time in 2009.
In an interview, Sabrina shared that she looks up to famous scientists like Leon Lederman and Freeman Dyson. She also said that Jeff Bezos, who started Amazon.com, inspired her to study physics. She has even received job offers from Bezos's aerospace company, Blue Origin, and from NASA.
Education and Discoveries
When Sabrina was in college at MIT, she worked on a big experiment. It was called the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. This is a huge machine that helps scientists study tiny particles.
As a graduate student at Harvard, she worked with her advisor, Andrew Strominger. Their early work led to the "spin memory effect." This effect could help us detect gravitational waves.
Sabrina also worked on something called the Pasterski–Strominger–Zhiboedov Triangle. This was a solo paper she wrote in 2015. Even famous scientist Stephen Hawking mentioned her work in 2016.
She earned her PhD in physics from Harvard University in May 2019. After that, she started a new project called the Celestial Holography Initiative. She even invited Andrew Strominger to join her in this important research.
Sabrina in the Media
Sabrina's amazing work has been featured in many places. WIRED magazine wrote about her in an article called "A New Way to Understand the Universe." She was also on a live radio show called "What if the Universe is a Hologram?"
Actor George Takei shared a quote from Sabrina on his Twitter account. She said, "Hopefully I'm known for what I do and not what I don't do." This quote was shared over a million times.
In 2016, Sabrina helped promote the Let Girls Learn program. This program encouraged girls around the world to go to school. Because of her efforts, she was invited to the White House. She also appeared in Marie Claire magazine with former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Sabrina continues to support STEM education for girls. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She has worked to help girls in Cuba and Russia learn more about these subjects.
Her work has been covered by news outlets all over the world. Stories about her have appeared in Russian, Polish, Spanish, German, and French.
Awards and Honors
Sabrina has received many awards for her achievements:
- 2010: Illinois Aviation Trades Association Industry Achievement Award
- 2011: MIT Freshman Entrepreneurship Award
- 2012: Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings Young Researcher
- 2013: MIT Physics Department Orloff Scholarship Award
- 2013: European Physical Society High Energy and Particle Physics Prize, MIT-CMS
- 2015: Hertz Foundation Fellowship
- 2015: Forbes’ 30 under 30 2015: Science
- 2016: Marie Claire Young Women Honors Recipient: "The Genius"
- 2018: Discovery Canada's International Women's Day honoree.
- 2019: IMSA Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
- 2023: Deputy Director, Simons Collaboration on Celestial Holography, Simons Foundation
See also
In Spanish: Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski para niños
