Cassidy Eassa

"I was a weird kid. When I was really little, I wanted to be a geologist; then a librarian; then an architect; then an interior designer; then an astronaut. In other words, I've always had a broad interest in learning about many different fields. My astronaut dreams were ultimately crushed when I was diagnosed with POTS (a disorder of the autonomic nervous system) as a teen -- then I figured that a teaching position of some sort would be the best choice to keep my ever-changing interest. I fell in love with astronomy in high school but still wanted to be a teacher so I ended up studying astronomy at college with a concentration in education, intending to eventually go into informal STEM learning, which is exactly what I did!"

Cassidy Eassa is a science educator at LIGO Hanford, where she organises and leads outreach opportunities that explain the science at LIGO to members of the public, including public and private tours, and activities with local schools and teachers. In their free time, they love to play with their dog Duck, read lots of fantasy novels, and DM a D&D campaign with their friends. Her favourite book is "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman, the perfect combination of their two favorite genres (horror and fantasy). Their love of astronomy overlaps with their love of horror - she loves art that frightens her, specifically, art that combines beauty and fear. To her, space is existentially vast while being beautifully wonderous in that same way.