"I hope I can at least help bring up the people behind me. And make sure that there’s new people in the pipeline, younger people, diverse people. And I also just think that’ll make the science a lot more vibrant. When you get more people asking interesting questions, you’re going to get a lot of exciting results." (Vox)

We're seeing stars! Astrophysicist Dr. Erika Hamden is an Astronomy Professor at the University of Arizona and builds telescopes to better understand galaxies. Her research focuses on developing ultraviolet detector technology, building ultraviolet and visible wavelength instruments and telescopes, and using those telescopes to understand how galaxies evolve through time. She has developed new telescopes and other technology for observing space. She is also a TED fellow!