Carrie Nugent

Last updated
Carrie Nugent
Born
Carrie Rosemary Nugent

1984 (age 39–40)
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles
Scientific career
Institutions Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
Olin College
Thesis Solar Radiation and Near-Earth Asteroids: Thermophysical Modeling and New Measurements of the Yarkovsky Effect  (2013)
Doctoral advisor Jean-Luc Margot

Carrie Nugent (born 1984) is an assistant professor of computational physics and planetary science at Olin College. She studies near-Earth objects. She is also a popular science communicator, and is a Senior TED Fellow. The asteroid 8801 Nugent was named after her.

Contents

Early life and education

Nugent studied at Mira Costa High School, graduating in the class of 2002. [1] [2] She earned an undergraduate degree in physics. [3] She studied geophysics at University of California, Los Angeles, and earned her PhD in 2013. [4] She was supervised by Jean-Luc Margot and investigated the Yarkovsky effect. [5] She served as an Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) Fellow from 2015. [6] She worked at the Summer App Space, a Los Angeles based apprenticeship for people to learn programming whilst working on space projects. [7]

Research and career

Nugent worked with the Near-Earth Object part of the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, known as NEOWISE. [8] [9] She was part of the Near-Earth Object Camera asteroid hunting teams. [10] For this, Nugent was awarded the NASA Group Achievement Award. She believes asteroid impact is the only natural disaster that we can prevent. [11] In 2015 she named an asteroid after Malala Yousafzai. [12]

Nugent joined the faculty at Olin College as an assistant professor of computational physics and planetary science in 2018. [13] [14] She works on asteroid detection, and focuses on the identification of asteroids that could be a threat to Earth. [15]

Public engagement

Nugent was a AAAS Mass Media Fellow in 2008. [16] She was selected as a TED Fellow in 2016, and a Senior TED Fellow in 2018. [17] Nugent delivered a TED talk Adventures of an asteroid hunter at the TED conference in 2016. [18] After her TED talk, Nugent wrote the book Asteroid Hunters with Simon & Schuster. [19] [20] The talk was also used in a TED-Ed video. [21] In her spare time she produces the podcast SpacePod. [22] The podcast involves short episodes (15 minute in length) featuring relaxed conversations with space explorers. [23] She serves as one of The Planetary Society experts. [24] A question about Nugent's research was once included in Jeopardy!. [25]

Awards and honours

Books

Nugent, Carrie (2017). Asteroid Hunters. Simon & Schuster Ltd. ISBN   9781471162398.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarkovsky effect</span> Force acting on a rotating body in space

The Yarkovsky effect is a force acting on a rotating body in space caused by the anisotropic emission of thermal photons, which carry momentum. It is usually considered in relation to meteoroids or small asteroids, as its influence is most significant for these bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asteroid impact avoidance</span> Methods to prevent destructive asteroid hits

Asteroid impact avoidance encompasses the methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) on a potential collision course with Earth could be diverted away, preventing destructive impact events. An impact by a sufficiently large asteroid or other NEOs would cause, depending on its impact location, massive tsunamis or multiple firestorms, and an impact winter caused by the sunlight-blocking effect of large quantities of pulverized rock dust and other debris placed into the stratosphere. A collision 66 million years ago between the Earth and an object approximately 10 kilometers wide is thought to have produced the Chicxulub crater and triggered the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that is understood by the scientific community to have caused the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spaceguard</span> Efforts to study asteroids that might impact Earth

The term Spaceguard loosely refers to a number of efforts to discover, catalogue, and study near-Earth objects (NEO), especially those that may impact Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven J. Ostro</span> American scientist

Steven Jeffrey Ostro was an American scientist specializing in radar astronomy. He worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Ostro led radar observations of numerous asteroids, as well as the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, Saturn's rings, and Mars and its satellites. As of May 2008, Ostro and his collaborators had detected 222 near-Earth asteroids, including 130 potentially hazardous objects and 24 binaries, and 118 main belt objects with radar.

99942 Apophis (provisional designation 2004 MN4) is a near-Earth asteroid and a potentially hazardous object with a diameter of 370 metres (1,210 feet) that caused a brief period of concern in December 2004 when initial observations indicated a probability up to 2.7% that it would hit Earth on April 13, 2029. Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated the possibility of an impact on Earth in 2029. Until 2006, a small possibility nevertheless remained that, during its 2029 close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a gravitational keyhole of no more than about 800 kilometres (500 mi) in diameter, which would have set up a future impact exactly seven years later on April 13, 2036. This possibility kept it at Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006, when the probability that Apophis would pass through the keyhole was determined to be very small and Apophis's rating on the Torino scale was lowered to zero. By 2008, the keyhole had been determined to be less than 1 km wide. During the short time when it had been of greatest concern, Apophis set the record for highest rating ever on the Torino scale, reaching level 4 on December 27, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rubincam</span> American geophysicist

David Perry Rubincam is an American geophysicist with specialties in solid-earth geophysics, planetary geodynamics and celestial mechanics. He has worked as a civilian scientist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration since 1978. The main-belt asteroid 9921 Rubincam was named in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Zuber</span> American astronomer (born 1958)

Maria T. Zuber is an American geophysicist who is the vice president for research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also holds the position of the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. Zuber has been involved in more than half a dozen NASA planetary missions aimed at mapping the Moon, Mars, Mercury, and several asteroids. She was the principal investigator for the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Mission, which was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Grinspoon</span> American astrobiologist

David H. Grinspoon is an American astrobiologist. He is the Senior Scientist for Astrobiology Strategy at NASA and was the former inaugural Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology for 2012–2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">101955 Bennu</span> Carbonaceous asteroid

101955 Bennu (provisional designation 1999 RQ36) is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group discovered by the LINEAR Project on 11 September 1999. It is a potentially hazardous object that is listed on the Sentry Risk Table and has the highest cumulative rating on the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale. It has a cumulative 1-in-1,750 chance of impacting Earth between 2178 and 2290 with the greatest risk being on 24 September 2182. It is named after Bennu, the ancient Egyptian mythological bird associated with the Sun, creation, and rebirth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Stofan</span> Planetary geologist and NASA scientist

Ellen Renee Stofan is Under Secretary for Science and Research at The Smithsonian and was previously the Director of the National Air and Space Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriana Ocampo</span> Colombian planetary geologist

Adriana C. Ocampo Uria is a Colombian planetary geologist and a Science Program Manager at NASA Headquarters. In 1970, Ocampo emigrated to California and completed her Master in Sciences at California State University, Northridge and finished her PhD at the Vrije Universiteit in the Netherlands. During high school and graduate studies she worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she serves as the science coordinator for many planetary missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret G. Kivelson</span> American geophysicist, planetary scientist (born 1928)

Margaret Galland Kivelson is an American space physicist, planetary scientist, and distinguished professor emerita of space physics at the University of California, Los Angeles. From 2010 to the present, concurrent with her appointment at UCLA, Kivelson has been a research scientist and scholar at the University of Michigan. Her primary research interests include the magnetospheres of Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meenakshi Wadhwa</span> Planetary scientist

Meenakshi Wadhwa is a planetary scientist and educator who studies the formation and evolution of the Solar System through the analysis of planetary materials including meteorites, Moon rocks and other extraterrestrial samples returned by spacecraft missions. She is director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Lakdawalla</span> Planetary geologist and writer

Emily Stewart Lakdawalla is an American planetary geologist and former Senior Editor of The Planetary Society, contributing as both a science writer and a blogger. She has also worked as a teacher and as an environmental consultant. She has performed research work in geology, Mars topography, and science communication and education. Lakdawalla is a science advocate on various social media platforms, interacting with space professionals and enthusiasts on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. She has appeared on such media outlets as NPR, BBC and BBC America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindy Elkins-Tanton</span> American planetary scientist

Lindy Elkins-Tanton is an American planetary scientist and professor whose research concerns terrestrial planetary evolution. She is the Principal Investigator of NASA's Psyche mission to explore the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, Arizona State University Vice President of the Interplanetary Initiative, and co-founder of Beagle Learning, a tech company training and measuring collaborative problem-solving and critical thinking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy-Ann McFadden</span> American astronomer and planetary scientist

Lucy-Ann Adams McFadden is an American astronomer and planetary scientist. An employee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, she also founded the Science, Discovery & the Universe Program within the University of Maryland, and the Explore-It-All Science Center, a children's science program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Hendrix</span> American planetary scientist

Amanda R. Hendrix is an American planetary scientist known for her pioneering studies of solar system bodies at ultraviolet wavelengths. She is a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Her research interests include moon and asteroid surface composition, space weathering effects and radiation products. She is a co-investigator on the Cassini UVIS instrument, was a co-investigator on the Galileo UVS instrument, is a Participating Scientist on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LAMP instrument and is a Principal Investigator on Hubble Space Telescope observing programs. As of 2019, she is also the co-lead of the NASA Roadmaps to Oceans World Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christina Richey</span> American planetary scientist and astrophysicist

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faith Vilas</span> American astronomer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynnae Quick</span> Planetary geophysicist

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References

  1. 1 2 "Hall Of Fame – My blog" . Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  2. 1 2 "Mira Costa honors six more distinguished alumni". The Beach Reporter. September 21, 2017. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  3. ↑ Hess, Peter. "Asteroid Hunter Carrie Nugent Is Trying to Save the World". Inverse. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  4. ↑ "Biography of Carrie Nugent for Appearances, Speaking Engagements". www.allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  5. ↑ Nugent, Carolyn Rosemary (2013). Solar Radiation and Near-Earth Asteroids: Thermophysical Modeling and New Measurements of the Yarkovsky Effect (Thesis). UCLA.
  6. ↑ "We must keep searching the sky!". IPAC. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  7. ↑ "Instructors – Summer App Space" . Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  8. ↑ "Secondhand Spacecraft Has Firsthand Asteroid Experience". www.lpi.usra.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  9. ↑ "» Vermin of the sky". live.iop-pp01.agh.sleek.net. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  10. ↑ Insider, Ariel Schwartz, Business. "An asteroid hunter reveals how she finds the space rocks that could destroy earth". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-06-08.{{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ Wolfe, Alexandra (2017-05-26). "Tales of an Asteroid Hunter". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  12. ↑ sara.cardine@latimes.com, Sara Cardine. "Asteroid's name skyrockets across social media". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  13. ↑ "Influx of New Faculty Join Olin College of Engineering | Olin College". www.olin.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  14. 1 2 "Olin College Professor Carrie Nugent Awarded Carl Sagan Medal | Olin College". www.olin.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  15. ↑ Fornoff, Marcheta. "An 'asteroid hunter' shares her job description". www.mprnews.org. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  16. ↑ "Mass Media Fellows Describe Their Experiences". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  17. ↑ D'Arcy, Patrick (2016-01-05). "21 Rising Stars To Watch in 2016". TED Fellows. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  18. ↑ Nugent, Carrie, Adventures of an asteroid hunter , retrieved 2019-06-06
  19. ↑ "Carrie Nugent". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  20. ↑ "Asteroid Hunters". guardianbookshop.com. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  21. ↑ TED-Ed (2017-10-16), The first asteroid ever discovered - Carrie Nugent , retrieved 2019-06-06
  22. ↑ "About". Spacepod. Archived from the original on 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  23. ↑ Singer, Kelsi (2015-09-24). "Great New Science Podcast by Dr. Carrie Nugent". Women in Planetary Science: Female Scientists on Careers, Research, Space Science, and Work/Life Balance. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  24. ↑ "Carrie Nugent". www.planetary.org. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  25. ↑ "(Cara Santa Maria gives the clue.) Caltech scientist Carrie Nugent explained how to track & predict the impact these would have if on a collision course with Earth; the method used in the movie Armageddon is not very practical - JeopardyQuestions.com". jeopardyquestions.com. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  26. ↑ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  27. ↑ "Meet the 2018 class of TED Fellows and Senior Fellows". TED Blog. 2018-01-09. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  28. ↑ "DPS Announces 2019 Prize Winners | American Astronomical Society". aas.org. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
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