Doctor Jessica Li !!!

I have talked about and posted photographs of Jessica a number of times on the blog.  The short version is that when she was a high school student and 14 years of age, she showed up at one of our ASLI meetings and said she wanted to join and that she wanted to build a telescope!  So after High School she went to Stony Brook University and graduated with three majors, including engineering and astronomy.  Then she worked at Brookhaven National Labs for a few years and then headed off to the University of Arizona to work on her PhD.  Today I received a post card from her that she had defended her PhD thesis and is now officially Doctor Jessica Li.  Man oh man!  How cool is that!  This photograph was taken at an observing session at the Vanderbilt in 2015.

She came home with her husband to visit their parents back in 2022 and stopped in one afternoon and it was really nice to catch up with what she has been up to. The FIREBall-2 ultraviolet balloon telescope for one thing!

And then in 2023 she came home again, and arranged to give a talk at ASLI where it all began, 15 years ago!  Because she was speaking she invited two of her High School teachers to attend.  Richard, on the left was her physics teacher, and Linda, on the right was her science teacher.   It has been amazing and a joy for me to follow along with her journey!  And what a joy to hear that she is now a PhD!