SR 138: The Future of Gravitational Waves with Dr. Brittany Kamai

This week I had the privilege of chatting with Dr. Brittany Kamai
about her research into how to improve gravitational wave
detectors – as well as how we can each generate gravitational
waves. We also discussed how she became a driving force behind
the #ShutDownSTEM movement.


Brittany is Native Hawaiian, an astrophysicist, athlete, author,
mentor, and advocate for creating a better world. She is on a
mission to help enhance our fundamental understanding of the
universe and does so by weaving together every aspect of who she
is.


As an experimentalist, Brittany’s research focuses on improving
gravitational wave detectors with novel technology ideas. She is
advancing studies of seismic and acoustic metamaterials on a path
to improve the ground-based detectors, namely LIGO and Cosmic
Explorer. With increased sensitivity, we will gather deeper
astrophysical observations to enable precision tests of
cosmology, General Relativity, and stellar evolution.


Brittany cares deeply about how we do science and infuses the
aloha spirit into her practice of science. She advocates on
national and international advisory boards to build towards a
more equitable and inclusive field of astrophysics. She is the
co-founder of #ShutDownSTEM and the Society of Indigenous
Physicists.


Dr. Kamai has received numerous awards during her career
including as a National Academy of Sciences' Kavli Frontiers of
Science Fellow, Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellow, National
Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, among many others.


Currently, Dr. Kamai is a Heising-Simons Foundation Postdoctoral
scholar with a joint appointment between the University of
California, Santa Cruz and Caltech.


Be sure to follow Brittany on Twitter (@cosmojellyfish) and
Instagram (@cosmojellyfish). You can also learn more about her by
visiting her website.


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Big thanks to my top Patreon supporters this month: Justin G,
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Bill H, Steven S, Jens O, Ryan L, Ella F, Richard S, Sam R,
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Bill E, Jim L, Tim Z, Thomas W, Linda C, Joshua, David W, Aissa
F, Tom G, Marc H, Avery P, and Scott M!!


Produced by Nancy Graziano.


Cheese for today’s tasting proudly provided by Dom’s Cheese Shop.


Hosted by Paul M. Sutter, astrophysicist and the one and only
Agent to the Stars.