Michelle Thaller
{{Short description|American astronomer, scientist, and science communicator}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = Dr
| name = Michelle Thaller
| honorific_suffix =
| image = File:Assistant Director for Science Communication at the Goddard Space Flight Center Michelle Thaller.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names =
| citizenship =
| education = BS 1992, PhD 1998
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
}}
| occupation =
| years_active =
| employer =
| organization =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| style =
| height =
| television =
| title =
| term =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party =
| movement =
| opponents =
| boards =
| criminal_charge =
| criminal_penalty =
| criminal_status =
| spouse = Andrew Booth (2000–2020){{cite web |work=Tribute Archive |date=n.d. |title=Andrew Booth |accessdate=October 20, 2020 |url=https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/18255456/Andrew-Booth}}{{cite web |work=NASA |date=18 February 2020 |title=Michelle Thaller Communicates the Beauty and Possibilities of Science
|accessdate=November 20, 2022 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/michelle-thaller-communicates-the-beauty-and-possibilities-of-science}}
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
| relatives =
| callsign =
| awards =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| signature_size =
| module =
| module2 =
| module3 =
| module4 =
| module5 =
| module6 =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Michelle Thaller is an American astronomer, research scientist, and science communicator. Thaller is formerly the Assistant Director for Science Communication at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.{{cite web
| title = Sciences and Exploration Directorate – NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
| publisher = Goddard Space Flight Center
| url = https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/index.cfm?fuseAction=home.main&&navOrgCode=600&navTab=nav_about_us
| accessdate = 2017-06-30}} She retired in 2024 after 27 years at NASA.{{Cite web |title=Nasa Presentation by Michelle Thaller |url=https://bumbershoot.com/artists/michelle-thaller/ |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=bumbershoot.com}}
From 1998 to 2009 she was a staff scientist at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, and later Manager of the Education and Public Outreach program for the Spitzer Space Telescope, at the California Institute of Technology.{{cite web|title=SIRTF Profiles: Dr. Michelle Thaller – Manager of the SIRTF Education and Public Outreach Program |publisher=Spitzer Science Center |url=http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/features/P_MichelleThaller.shtml |accessdate=2008-02-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713092219/http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/features/P_MichelleThaller.shtml |archivedate=July 13, 2007 }} She is a frequent on-camera contributor to programming on The History Channel and Science Channel.
Background
A native of Wisconsin,{{cite web
| title = About Us
| publisher = Cool Cosmos
| url = http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu//about_us.html
| accessdate = 2008-02-28
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030818053315/http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/about_us.html
| archive-date = 2003-08-18
| url-status = dead
}} Thaller graduated from Waukesha South High School in 1988.{{cite web|title=Wall of Fame|url=http://www.waukeshasouth.com/WallOfFame/profile.asp?id=16|publisher=Waukesha South HS|accessdate=5 July 2013}} She attended Harvard University, where she majored in astrophysics and worked on precision measurement of binary stars, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1992. At Georgia State University Thaller worked on colliding winds in close massive binary systems. She received a PhD in 1998.
{{cite web
| title = NASA Biography – Michelle Thaller
| publisher = NASA
| url = http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/webcasts/elv/thallerM-bio.html
| accessdate = 2016-11-04}}
Thaller is a regular contributor to the online edition of the Christian Science Monitor, for which she writes a monthly science column, and appears on the History Channel show, The Universe, and The Science Channel series How the Universe Works, Strip the Cosmos, and The Planets and Beyond. In 2016 and 2017 Thaller authored and hosted the PRX/Sky & Telescope Orbital Path Podcasts series,{{cite web | title=Orbital Path Podcasts with Michelle Thaller | website=Sky & Telescope | date=November 16, 2017 | url=https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/orbital-path-astronomy-podcast/ | access-date=April 22, 2022}} and in 2008 contributed to and appeared in the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope's award-winning video podcast series IRrelevant Astronomy.{{cite magazine| magazine=Spark | issue=8 | date=June 2009 | title=Seriously Funny: Spitzer's IRrelevant Astronomy Podcast | url=https://aas.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/spark_2009_06_june.pdf}}
Personal life
Michelle Thaller married fellow astronomer Andrew Booth on September 8, 2000, in Scotland.{{Cite news |title=A Romance written in the stars |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0225/p25s01-stss.html |access-date=2024-09-06 |work=Christian Science Monitor |issn=0882-7729}} Andrew, a tenured professor at the University of Sydney, moved from Australia to be with Michelle in Pasadena, California during her post-doc. Andrew died in 2020 due to a rare form of brain cancer.{{Cite web |title=Turning To Space While Processing Grief |url=https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/nasa-astronomer-space-grief/ |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=Science Friday |language=en-US}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|drmichellethaller.com}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS3ommzN3Aw Video of Thaller's talk on "Living with a Star: Creating and Maintaining a Life-friendly Planet" in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thaller, Michelle}}
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Georgia State University alumni
Category:American women astronomers