Isobel's 10 year anniversary contribution
fill in any of the fields below you like, delete the rest
Quote
text:
In February 2016, I was an undergraduate student in Physics at the University of Birmingham, working on an essay project where we could choose to write about "any physics topic". Because I'd not heard of them before, and they sounded interesting, I chose gravitational waves. At the time, the general public - including me - had no idea whether LIGO had detected anything, so I wrote this whole essay about future gravitational-wave detection prospects.
Something like three days before the essay deadline, I printed my work out and carried it with me into the University, intending to submit it that day. Before I submitted it, though, I went to watch an announcement that was being made to the whole School of Physics and Astronomy. I remember that the room that had been booked for the announcement was totally full of people. The atmosphere was buzzing with anticipation.
Then the announcement was made: gravitational waves had been detected for the first time! It was very exciting - but of course, I had to go home and rewrite my essay. I think that experience of working on a topic that was actively making advances in real time sparked my determination to work in this field.
Name and (optional) affiliation to appear on the website:
Isobel Romero-Shaw, University of Cambridge / University of Bristol / Cardiff University
Image(s)
image file:
image credit:
Isobel Romero-Shaw
image alt text:
Photo of Isobel Romero-Shaw