Pamela Gay
| Pamela L. Gay | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
December 12, 1973 California, United States |
| Alma mater | University of Texas, Austin |
| Occupation | Astronomy |
| Employer | Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois |
| Known for | Astronomy, education, podcasting |
Pamela L. Gay (born December 12, 1973) is an American astronomer, educator, podcaster, and writer, best known for her work in astronomical podcasting and citizen science astronomy projects. She works as an assistant research professor at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Her research interests include analysis of astronomy data, as well as examination of the impact of citizen science initiatives. Gay has also appeared as herself in various television documentary series.
Gay takes part in science popularization efforts and educational outreach as director of CosmoQuest, a citizen science project aimed at engaging the public in astronomy research, speaking on science and scientific skepticism topics internationally, and through educational podcasting.
Gay received her PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas, Austin, in 2002 and a BS degree in Astrophysics from Michigan State University in 1996. She works as an assistant research professor in the STEM center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Gay was on the Council (Board of Directors) for the American Association of Variable Star Observers, as well as its Educational Committee Chair.
Gay was co-chair of the United States new media efforts with regard to the International Year of Astronomy, 2009.
Gay's research interests focus primarily on motivating science engagement with media and citizen scientists, as well as data analysis and visualization to engage the public as partners in the analysis of large data sets. Other research interests include RR Lyrae stars with which she collaborates with both professional and amateur astronomers across the world in order to gather needed data.
While Gay is known for her citizen science and educational outreach work, much of her research has been in galactic astronomy. Gay's work with David Lambert provided confirmation that magnesium (Mg) isotopes are primarily a product of nucleosynthesis in massive stars, and demonstrated that some stars with known "anomalous or peculiar composition are also marked by distinctive isotopic Mg abundances." Gay and Lambert's results have been further cited in research of properties of the fine-structure constant using absorption systems in the spectra of distant quasars.
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