As an astronomer, I work to discover newborn planets around other stars in order to improve our understanding of how planets form and evolve. My goal is to help answer some of our biggest questions, like "How special is Earth?" and "How did we get here?"

I write about science to share my curiosity. My first pop-astronomy children's book, The Big Bang Book, came out in 2020 and has since been named a Sakura Medal Finalist, NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book, ILA Nonfiction Honor book, and an Ezra Jack Keats Award nominee. I have also written about space in various other formats — everything from TikToks to long-form articles — for Science News, Sky & Telescope, Google Arts & Culture, the Houston Chronicle, and APS News, among others. In 2022, I received the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship; in 2023, I completed my PhD at Rice University. Picnic Planet is my latest book.

My CV is available