Zarah Brown

Zarah Brown

Graduate Research Fellows
Year
2020

I am a 4th year PhD student in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, studying Saturn's upper atmosphere using data from the Cassini mission. I am a non-traditional student and got my first degree out of high school with a double major in biology and fine art. Years later, I went back to school to study astrophysics in order to pursue a career in planetary science. I am passionate about science communication and have completed a certificate in science communication here at the University of Arizona. I love those "aha" moments where a new understanding of the universe clicks and I want to help others have that same experience. A formative such moment for me was when I decided to draw the solar system with all the sizes and distances to-scale as a child. I quickly found that in order to do this I would need the better part of a ream of paper, leaving me with an intuitive sense of the scale of the universe that was awe-inspiring. My project aims to make this available for students and other members of the local community by erecting a to-scale model of the solar system along the mall from the East to the West end of campus. In conjunction with the model, I am designing a one-day undergraduate lab to bolster math skills and support students' understanding of the planets. By partnering with Flandrau Science Center, the model will also be used for outreach with k-12 classes.