Maya Fishbach

"My family is my biggest support network -- I'm really lucky that I get to live at home during my PhD! I love to take my 7-year-old brother Tommy to the Adler planetarium and talk to him about space. He thinks that black holes are really cool, and whenever I feel stressed about research, I like to remind myself of this perspective by looking at one of his gravitational-wave inspired drawings that I keep at my desk. I also get a lot of support from my sister, who, like me, is a graduate student at the University of Chicago (studying medicine). My sister and I recently adopted a pet hamster; playing with her is also a great way to relieve stress!"

Maya Fishbach is a PhD student at The University of Chicago. Maya uses data analysis techniques and gravitational-wave detections to study the "demographics" of black hole binaries we observe in LIGO and to constrain the expansion rate of the universe. During the day she plays with her dog Dobby, at night she holds her hamster Mitski, and at all times she bakes pretzels. You can follow Maya on Twitter at @mayaKfish and on Instagram at @mayafishie.