Jackie Bertone
Jackie Bertone is a 3rd year Physics major with a dual minor in Astronomy and Music Technology at Virginia Tech. Two of her most significant passions in life are music and physics. From a young age she began composing and teaching herself piano. Now, she studies digital sound manipulation and composition while pursuing her degree in physics. Last year, her interest in space led her to start a team and build an astronaut EVA tool for NASA’s Micro-g NExT program. The tool was tested at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas and the research is currently being used to help engineers design better tools. For the Story of Space project, she was inspired to combine her background in music and her fascination with space to sonify the building blocks of the cosmos. email: [email protected] |
Alex Gagliano
Alex Gagliano is an astrophysicist working at Los Alamos National Labs on cosmology simulations and supernovae. He is interested in the intersection between astronomy and culture, specifically how a society influences the way an individual sees and interprets the sky. Last year, he traveled to Gabon to study traditional West African astronomical beliefs. He presented the work this past November at a TEDx event in the US. Alex also completed an internship at the Office of Astronomy for Development in Cape Town, South Africa, where he interacted with a blind astronomer who inspired him to explore sound-based astronomy outreach practices. With the Story of Space, Alex hopes to explore ways to make astronomy more accessible to underserved and underrepresented communities. email: [email protected] |