Jocelyn Read

"I started in science because I wanted to write science fiction and fantasy, and I particularly loved all the worldbuilding that was full of fascinating science ideas. I soon realized that I actually enjoyed working out the implications of new science more than the other parts of writing stories. In undergrad, I chose a combined major in physics and math because I liked the challenge of the combination, and I felt like it gave me the biggest range of potential directions. However, I still wasn't quite sure where I wanted to go with it, I then took an undergrad general relativity class and fell in love with the mix of physics and geometry. From there, my prof recommended me to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. At UWM, John Friedman introduced me to the fascinating world of neutron stars. I think it's delightful how they pack almost any kind of physics concept you can imagine into one astrophysical system. Of course, working at UWM, I also learned a lot about gravitational waves and LIGO. I didn't start directly working with LIGO data until years later, but I did start thinking about what gravitational waves would be able to tell us about neutron star matter. Predicting that became a big part of my thesis with John and with Jolien Creighton. After I graduated, bit by bit over the years, I've spent a larger and larger fraction of time working directly with LIGO. The LIGO-Virgo binary neutron star observation, GW170817, is practically my third baby, although it grew up *extremely* fast. I'm still astounded that the LVC and the community as a whole have been able to do so much science with the very first neutron-star merger. The Universe was very generous to gravitational-wave astronomy in giving us such a nearby event!"

Jocelyn Read is an Associate Professor at CSU Fullerton. She primarily works in the Extreme Matter working group, which focuses on the dense and mysterious matter that's found in neutron stars and what can be learned about neutron stars from LIGO and Virgo observations. She loves working with all the people in the Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy Center at CSUF. “It's like magic when students show you something new they've done - from new students who are just figuring out the basics to more experienced students who can pull off impressive results.” In her free time, she runs around and does art projects with her kids, reads books, and has been trying to learn how to salsa dance with her partner. You can follow Jocelyn on Twitter at @drjocelynread.