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Moiya McTier
Moiya McTier graduate student of Astronomy at Columbia University Moiya McTier profiled as a Astrophycisist and Folklorist by Arin Sang-Urai
Born	Waynesburgh, Pennsylvania
Alma mater	Harvard University
Scientific career
Institutions	Cool Worlds Lab Columbia University
Thesis	Galactic dynamics effects on planet populations and galactic habitability
Doctoral advisor	David Kipping
Website	https://www.MoiyaMcTier.com/

Introduction

Moiya McTier was born in Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania, she is a current doctorate's student at Columbia University set to graduate in 2021. She is an advocate, and women of color representing a small number of professional in the Astronomy field. She is a member of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy. Together with this committee, she provides resources to astronomers of color and tries to make the astronomy community as a whole more welcoming. She's also personally mentored several young students, many of them women of color who want advice on how to navigate academia.

Background & Biography

Moiya McTier is a Astrophysicist, Folklorist, and help promote Science Communication. McTier grew up in a log cabin in a small Pennsylvania coal-mining town in Waynesburgh, Pennsylvania. She spent her childhood reading fantasy books, exploring the woods, and participating in every school club she could cram into her schedule. McTier was lucky enough to be admitted to Harvard University. She is also the first person to study in both astrophysicist, folklore & mythology from Harvard University. She is an NSF fellow graduate and studies how the Milky Way’s motion influences the formation of planets around the galaxy. McTier has given over 100 talks about science and equity & inclusion, and have been interviewed on television and podcasts, science and design exhibits for the New York Hall of Science She also taught children in rural Chile about solar eclipses and has given an invited lecture at South Africa’s National Science Festival. She has been interviewed on MSNBC, NPR, NowThis News, and various other television programs and podcasts. McTier is currently at work on a book titled The Milky Way: An Unauthorized Autobiography, to be published in 2022 by Grand Central (World).

Education

McTier earned an BS in Astrophysics and Folklore & Mythology at Harvard University in 2016. After graduating, that same year, McTier was accepted into Columbia, and decided to pursue PhD in Astronomy at Columbia University. Her Ph.D. research includes three research papers, "Finding mountains with molehills: the detectability of exotopography" , "Not gone with the wind: Planet occurrence is independent of stellar galactocentric velocity" , and her latest research paper "8 in 10 Stars in the Milky Way Bulge experience stellar encounters within 1000 AU in a gigayear" combined with the other two paper compromises chapters worth of her dissertation which coveres general topic on the “Galactic dynamics effects on planet populations and galactic habitability”.

Honors and recognition

McTier is apart of the Fourteen GSAS Students Awarded 2018 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships.
She is an ACEAP 2018 Ambassadors (JUNE).
McTier is a member of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy. Which provides resources for individuals in the academic field, where she hopes to make the astronomy field more welcoming and inclusive to everyone regardless of their situation.
McTier is also a recipient of the 2016 Chambliss Student Achievement Award. This award is granted every year by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) to recognize exemplary research by undergraduate and graduate students.
In 2017, McTier was named the Yeh Family Endowment Recipient at Columbia University.

Early Works

McTier was a teaching assistant for introductory astronomy classes for a year as an undergraduate at Harvard. She taught astronomy labs for non-astronomy majors at Barnard and Columbia for a year during her early Ph.D. program. Most of her work comes from her extensive science communication work which is her way of teaching, although it's in informal settings. Since graduating from Harvard in 2016, MCcTier has given hundreds of talks (including television, radio, and podcast appearances) about science. Some of her works include Want to thrive in the future of work? Practice scientific thinking Fastcompany, Mapping Alien Worlds americanscientst
Science goes to the movies" CUNY TV as well as System of 7 earth-sized exoplanets on MSNBC McTier has written blogs for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory short for NRAO titled "Remember to Look Up at the Stars, Not Down at your Data" This short blog explains her trip to Chile, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, ACEAP is an opportunity for astronomy educators and communicators from the United States to visit US-supported telescope facilities in Chile. While there, the ambassadors learn about the research that each facility does and the outreach activities they do to educate their surrounding communities. When the ambassadors get back home, it’s their duty to spread the word about how important Chilean telescope initiatives are for astronomy research.

References

Category: Living people Category: African-American Astrophysicists & Folklorist Category: Harvard University Alumni Category: Year of birth missing (living people) Category:African-American Astronomer Category: Columbia Ph.D.Candidate Category: People from New York, New York Category:American women scientists