Ph.D. Thesis Acknowledgments
Olivia Wilkins
Wellp, I’ve submitted my Ph.D. thesis! This has been made possible by the support of so many wonderful people, and I couldn’t wait to share my acknowledgements. To everyone who has rooted for me along the way, thank you.
Something I learned multiple times throughout my time working on the Ph.D. is that graduate school is a marathon, not a race. There were many times when I felt like I was sprinting, fueled by the high of my code working for more than a day or going several days without being disrupted by software crashes when using CASA (the software every radio astronomer loves to hate). Many other times, I felt exhausted and out of breath, wondering if I really could reach the finish line.
Well, I have completed this marathon, and it would not have been possible without having a supportive group of people who have trained me, cheered for me, or provided water (read: coffee) breaks along the way. Fortunately for me, I have had a lot of people cheering me on. Perhaps not so fortunate for you, that means reading these acknowledgements is a marathon of its own.
First, I thank my research advisor, Geoff Blake, for providing an environment in which I could thrive as an independent researcher. You have fostered a community in your group that attracts kind, generous, and hardworking people, and I am so glad to have been a part of that. I appreciate your support of my own professional endeavors, especially those outside of astrochemistry research. I was not interested in coming to Caltech before I met you in Cologne when you visited while I was in Germany as a Fulbrighter. I was only planning to apply because the Fulbright got me an automatic application fee waiver. However, during that visit, I asked you whether you were open to me pursuing my interests in teaching even though at the time teaching was not required of chemistry Ph.D. students. My first impression of you was that you were someone who wanted your students to be their own people in their professional development, and I have not been disappointed in that. I have grown so much as a researcher over these last five years, but I have also grown in many other ways, all with your enthusiastic support. Thank you for giving me a place at Caltech to become not just a well-rounded scientist but a more well-rounded person.
Next, I thank the rest of my committee for their conversations and advice. You have all added meaning to my Ph.D. experience in different ways. One of my fondest memories of my Ph.D. experience comes from my first year when I was in Mitchio Okumura's quantum chemistry class. The midterm exam was a take-home exam that had to be completed in a continuous 3-hour period. As a mother with an infant, I asked if I could break up my 3-hour time to nurse my son if he woke up while I took my exam. I had heard horror stories of the experiences of grad-parents and grad-mothers in particular, so I was terrified to ask you that question. Not only did you agree to that, you lifted the time limit for me, acknowledging that if I was called away from the exam, it might take me some time to get back into the mindset of quantum chemistry. That experience made me feel like I belong in academia as a mother and removed much of the fear I had that I would not be seen as a serious researcher.
Scott Cushing, you have been an amazing advocate for mental health, and I am so thankful to have connected with you. Thank you for addressing mental health concerns on campus and working with me to set up the mental wellness community-building lunches. I especially appreciate you speaking up, especially as a new faculty member, at town halls to validate students' concerns about their mental and general well-being.
Katherine de Kleer, I appreciate the candid advice you have given me about collaborations and professional development. Even more than that, I am thankful for the confidence you have given me in data analysis. At my first committee meeting that included you, you mentioned me being a resource to some of the Planetary Science students with respect to working with data in CASA. In one sentence, you made me realize how much I had learned and made me feel empowered in my ability to learn independently.
Throughout my Ph.D., I think I have learned the most from my fellow group mates, not just in terms of science, but in terms of friendship and advocacy. Thank you to everyone who I have connected within the group: Marco Allodi, Ian Finneran, Danielle Piskorz, Brandon Carroll, Masha Kleshcheva, Dana Anderson, Griffin Mead, Cam Buzard, Alex Froebel, Kyle Virgil, Haw-Wei Lin, Sadie Dutton, and Albert Hsieh. Special thanks to Brandon, for getting me started with ALMA data and always encouraging me. Thank you to Dana for being my ALMA proposal dinner buddy and an ongoing resource. Kyle, I am so grateful for our coffee dates; thank you for your amazing pep talks. Griffin, thank you for swapping rides to the airport and for the chats that came with them. And to Cam, my first friend at Caltech, thank you for being a part of my family in California and being with me for every milestone along the way.
I have been fortunate to have not one but two divisions to call home during my time at Caltech. Officially, on the Chemistry side, I thank Alison Ross, graduate program coordinator extraordinaire, for being an amazing source of support for chemistry graduate students and for making my family feel welcome on campus. I also thank Elisha Jung Okawa for helping with the planning of mental health lunches.
Many thanks to the Chemistry Graduate Studies Committee, especially those who have worked on projects with me: Sadie Dutton, Joey Messinger, Krystal Vasquez, Karli Holman, Reina Buenconsejo, and Marta Gonzalvo. Chemistry is a better place because of all of you.
In Planetary Science, I thank the wonderful P.S. office staff for making South Mudd home: Irma Black, Margaret Carlos, Ulrike Terrones, Stephanie Petty, and Loreta Young. Gracias a Martín Cruz por mantener a South Mudd cómodo.
The Planetary Science grads are consistently found to be the happiest group of grad students on campus through campus climate surveys, and after having spent most of my time on campus with them, I can understand why. They are amazing. Thank you for welcoming me as an unofficial Planetary Science grad student. Special thanks to Aida Behmard, Maria Camarca, Ellen Leask, Henry Ngo, Shreyas Vissapragada, Nicole Wallack, and Mike Wong. Nicole, thank you for being not only my friend but Güni's too and for helping me use my voice. Maria, I am so glad to have found another person who will drive around and belt out ``Take Me Home, Country Roads'' by John Denver.
I also want to thank my fellow grad student-parents for working to make Caltech and academia in general a more friendly and supportive place for early-career folks with children.
During my time at Caltech, I have also seized opportunities to learn about and practice effective teaching pedagogy, especially through the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach. Thank you to the wonderful people in that office who have supported me along the way: Jenn Weaver, Cassandra Volpe Horii, Kitty Cahalan, Mitch Aiken, Leslie Rico, and Ellie Race-Moore. Special thanks to Jenn for advising the Caltech Project for Effective Teaching and giving me the opportunity to work with you as graduate director. Thank you to my co-directors over the years: Kelsey Boyle, Rebekah Silva, Daniel Martin, and Harrison Parker. Whether we overlapped for a couple of months or for a year, I'm glad to have been your colleague.
Also related to teaching, thank you to Prof. Carl Parker for being the best co-instructor I could have asked for. In case it was not obvious by my voluntarily teaching Scientific Writing for 11 terms, teaching the class with you has been one of the highlights of my graduate school experience. Thank you for making me feel valued and for giving me the agency to develop my own teaching practices in the class.
I want to acknowledge the amazing work done by the Center for Inclusion and Diversity on campus to make Caltech a better place for everyone. I am especially thankful for the mentorship and friendship I received from Erin-Kate Escobar.
Thank you to Kate McAnulty for being a friend and advocate. I always enjoyed our interactions, from working on graduate orientation to swapping mom stories.
The last people I want to thank on campus are the librarians. Research cannot be done without librarians, and I am so thankful for having the Caltech library as a resource. I especially want to thank Donna Wrublewski for being a friend but also for believing in my dream of writing and illustrating a book.
My growth as a scientist and person has also been fostered by many people outside Caltech. Thank you to my Dickinson College professors and mentors: Amy Witter, my forever-mentor; Sarah St. Angelo, for encouraging my enthusiasm; Rebecca Connor, for orienting me to Pasadena from afar; Jennifer Schaefer, for sharing your candid perspectives on academic culture.
I would not be an astrochemist if Green Bank Observatory (then part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory) in West Virginia had not offered me a summer research experience despite me never having taken an astronomy course. I also do not know if I would have found my passion for public outreach without Green Bank. Thanks to the folks there who helped me then and as a Ph.D. candidate, especially Toney Mintor, Dave Frayer, Will Armentrout, and Wilson Skipper.
Thank you to Karin Öberg for giving me my first real research experience in observational astrochemistry at the Center for Astrophysics. Thank you to Edith Fayolle for being an astrochemistry research and life mentor at CfA and then in Pasadena.
To Stephan Schlemmer, Nadine Wehres, Holger Müller, Marius Hermanns, and all of the Cologne Laboratory Astrophysics Group, thank you for hosting me during my Fulbright year but also for making me feel like family.
Thanks to the fantastic folks at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC), especially Sarah Wood. Your patience and knowledge have made me a better radio astronomer. I know that when I'm having problems with my ALMA data, all I have to do is NAASC.
My academic friends on social media have also been an important part of my graduate school experience. Thank you to Gaius Augustus, Richard Hendricks, Briley Lewis, Sarah Mojarad, Erin Ryan, Susan Walden, and Ashley Walker. Extra thanks to Veronica Allen and Ilsa Cooke for sharing your astrochemistry wisdom. Finally, to Hannah Toru, thank you for being a wonderful friend and hype-person, and thank you for introducing me to many other amazing science folks, especially Sommer Johansen, who gives me strength when I want to share my vulnerabilities to let other people know they are not alone in their struggles.
Outside of academia, there are plenty of people around Pasadena who have helped me on this journey. Thank you to my therapist for helping me find myself and become a mentally healthier version of myself. Thank you to the various coffee establishments around Southern California and beyond, especially the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on South Lake Avenue. I know I paid for the coffee, but the friendliness and change of scenery that came with it were the true fuel. Thank you to Ransom Eaves, my frequent table neighbor at the Starbucks on South Lake. And, on the other side of the country, thank you to the folks at Denim for fueling my year of finishing my Ph.D. in a pandemic about 2,600 miles away from campus.
Most of my gratitude is reserved for my family. Rachel and Luke, thanks for being awesome younger siblings and rooting for me (even if you both own houses and have cats and Luke got a first-author research publication before me). Mom, thank you for being my best friend and filling our lives with laughter. There is so much you do for me, but as I am writing this and preparing to move, I am especially grateful for you for helping us with so many of our moves, whether it was from Germany or in California. Dad, thanks for always being proud of me and responding with "So what? You'll still have a Ph.D." when I said I was worried it would take me ten years to finish. I hope you're still proud of me even though I have not found any aliens (yet).
Finally, thank you, Güni, for making sure I take plenty of time to play. Being a student-parent comes with its challenges, but you made this experience much more fun and helped me balance work and life.
Thank you to my husband, my partner, and my best friend, Alex, for supporting me in every way possible, especially by being my personal barista and for feeding my obsession with traveling to obscure places to visit radio telescopes. Thank you for listening to every practice talk and reading just about every piece of writing. Alex, I truly could not have done this without you.