JoEllen McBride

Astrophysics

Dr. JoEllen McBride is a mom, science communicator and astrophysicist whose main purpose is to make science inclusive and accessible to anyone that wants to participate. She earned her Ph.D in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2016. Her research focused on galaxies that live close to each other and how that affected their ability to create stars. After that, she was a AAAS Mass Media Fellow at Voice of America in Washington D.C. and an adjunct faculty member in the physics department at West Chester University. She currently works as an astronomy subject matter expert for hire and is a board member of the AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy.

A picture of Annie Jump Cannon, deaf astronomer.

Matteo Farinella

JoEllen McBride
A woman looks through a telescope into the universe.

Illustration by Daniela Sherer

Dr. Vera Rubin deserves her name on new telescope designed to study dark matter

This is a great and fitting opportunity to honor her scientific contributions

JoEllen McBride

Earth is surrounded by minor planets — look no further than the Asteroid Belt

New Horizons had eyes for Pluto and MU69, but Mariakirch is much closer to home

JoEllen McBride

"NGC 5195 Galaxy - Hubble Space Telescope"        by jwinfred on Flickr

JoEllen McBride
Microbiologist Elizabeth Lee Hazen and chemist Rachel Brown, standing at a table with a microscope and culture tubes.

Acc. 90-105 - Science Service, Records, 1920s-1970s, Smithsonian Institution Archives 

JoEllen McBride
A painting of the astronomer Maria Kirch, in an article about facts about her life

Matteo Farinella

Maria Kirch was the first woman to discover a comet, but her husband took the credit

Even 300 years later, Maria Margaretha Winkelmann Kirch is denied credit for her work

JoEllen McBride

Galaxies are eating each other and the Milky Way might be next

Astronomers see a trail of destruction in the patterns of Andromeda's stars.

JoEllen McBride