Biography:Katie Mack (astrophysicist)

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Short description: American astrophysicist
Katie Mack
Katie Mack-IMG 8876.jpeg
Mack giving her talk on the End of the Universe at CERN on 25 February 2019
Born
Katherine J. Mack

(1981-05-01) 1 May 1981 (age 43)
Alma materPrinceton University (PhD)
California Institute of Technology (BS)
Scientific career
FieldsCosmology
Theoretical astrophysics[1]
InstitutionsPerimeter Institute
North Carolina State University
University of Melbourne
University of Cambridge
Thesis[ProQuest 304982499 Tests of Early Universe Physics from Observational Astronomy(2009)
Doctoral advisorPaul Steinhardt[2]
Websitehttps://www.astrokatie.com/

Katherine J. Mack (born 1 May 1981)[3] is a theoretical cosmologist who holds the Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at Perimeter Institute. Her academic research investigates dark matter, vacuum decay and the epoch of reionisation.[4][1][5] Mack is also a popular science communicator who participates in social media and regularly writes for Scientific American, Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time (magazine) and Cosmos.[6][7]

Early life and education

Mack became interested in science as a child and built solar-powered cars out of Lego blocks.[8] Her mother is a fan of science fiction, and encouraged Mack to watch Star Trek and Star Wars.[9] Her grandfather was a student at Caltech and worked on the Apollo 11 mission.[10] She became more interested in spacetime and the Big Bang after attending talks by scientists such as Stephen Hawking.[8]

Mack attended California Institute of Technology, and appeared as an extra in the opening credits of the 2001 American comedy film Legally Blonde when they filmed on campus.[11] She received her undergraduate degree in physics in 2003.[12][13] Mack obtained her PhD in astrophysics from Princeton University in 2009.[14] Her thesis on the early universe was supervised by Paul Steinhardt.[2][15]

Research and career

After earning her doctorate, Mack joined the University of Cambridge as a Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) postdoctoral research fellow at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology.[13] Later in 2012, Mack was a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow at the University of Melbourne.[16] Mack was involved with the construction of the dark matter detector SABRE.[17]

In January 2018, Mack became an Assistant Professor and a member of university's Leadership in Public Science Cluster in the Department of Physics at North Carolina State University.[18][19] She joined the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in June 2022, as the inaugural Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication.[20][21] The Canadian multidisciplinary research organization CIFAR named her one of the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars in 2022.[22]

Mack works at the intersection between fundamental physics and astrophysics. Her research considers dark matter,[23] vacuum decay,[24] the formation of galaxies, observable tracers of cosmic evolution and the Epoch of Reionisation.[25] Mack has described dark matter as one of science's "most pressing enigmas".[26][27] She has worked on dark matter self-annihilation[28] Mack has investigated whether the accretion of dark matter could result in the growth of primordial black holes (PBHs).[29] She has worked on the impact of PBHs on the cosmic microwave background.[30] She has become increasingly interested, too, in the end of the universe.[31]

Public engagement and advocacy

Mack maintains a strong science outreach presence on both social and traditional media.[32][33] She has been described by Motherboard and Creative Cultivate as a "social media celebrity".[8][17] Mack is a popular science writer, and has contributed to The Guardian , Scientific American, Slate, The Conversation, Sky & Telescope, Gizmodo, Time (magazine) and Cosmos, as well as providing expert information to the BBC.[34][35][36][37][38][39] Mack's Twitter account has over 300,000 followers; her response to a climate change denier on that platform gained mainstream coverage,[40][41] as did her "Chirp for LIGO" upon the first detection of gravitational waves.[42][43] She was the 2017 Australian Institute of Physics Women in Physics lecturer, in which capacity she spent three weeks delivering talks at schools and universities across Australia.[44][45]

In 2018, Mack was chosen to be one of the judges for Nature magazine's newly founded Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Science and Innovating Science.[46] In February 2019 Mack appeared in an episode of The Jodcast, talking about her work and science communication.[47] Mack was a member of the jury for the Alfred P. Sloan Prize in the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.[48] In 2019, she was referenced on the Hozier track 'No Plan' from his album Wasteland, Baby!: "As Mack explained, there will be darkness again".[49]

She is a member of the Sloan Science & Film community, where she works on science fiction.[50][51]

Her first book, The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking), was published by Simon & Schuster in August 2020, the firm having won the rights to Mack's first book in an eight-way bidding battle.[52][53] It considers the five scenarios for the end of universe (both theoretically and practically),[52] and has received positive reviews both for its science outreach accuracy and its wit.[54][55][56] The book [57] is also a New York Times Notable Book and features on the best books of the year lists of The Washington Post , The Economist, New Scientist, Publishers Weekly, and The Guardian .[58]

Personal life

Mack is interested in the intersection of art, poetry and science.[59] She is bisexual.[60]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 {{Google Scholar id}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Mack, Katherine J. (2009). Tests of Early Universe Physics from Observational Astronomy (PhD thesis). Princeton University. OCLC 437814758. ProQuest 304982499.
  3. "Mack, Katie, 1981-". https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2009145542.html. 
  4. Katie Mack's Entry at ORCID
  5. Mack, Katie. "A Tour of the Universe (and selected cosmic mysteries).". https://www.slideshare.net/AstroKatie. 
  6. No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.
  7. {{Twitter}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Create & Cultivate 100: STEM & Finance: Katie Mack" (in en-US). 21 January 2019. https://www.createcultivate.com/blog/2019/1/16/create-amp-cultivate-100-stem-katie-mack. 
  9. Cox, Ana Marie (2018-10-23). "Space the Nation: Katie Mack, the mansplainer slayer, on getting science right" (in en). https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/space-the-nation-katie-mack-the-mansplainer-slayer-on-getting-science-right. 
  10. Stasio, Dana Terry, Frank. "A Scientist Who Found Her Faith In Physics: Meet Katie Mack, AKA AstroKatie" (in en). https://www.wunc.org/post/scientist-who-found-her-faith-physics-meet-katie-mack-aka-astrokatie. 
  11. "Katie Mack". https://twitter.com/AstroKatie/status/1114352223499190272. 
  12. "On Astrophysics, Stardust, and Our (Teeny Tiny) Place in the Universe" (in en-US). https://www.techer.caltech.edu/on-astrophysics-and-stardust. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 "Katherine (Katie) Mack | Department of Physics | NC State University" (in en). 2018-05-24. https://physics.sciences.ncsu.edu/people/kmack/. 
  14. "Katie Mack *09: Taming of the Troll" (in en). 2016-09-26. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/katie-mack-09-taming-troll. 
  15. "Katherine Mack" (in en). http://www.planetary.org/connect/our-experts/profiles/katherine-mack.html. 
  16. "Katie Mack's Webpage". http://www.ph.unimelb.edu.au/~kmack/. 
  17. 17.0 17.1 Scoles, Sarah (2017-04-10). "I Went to the 'Contact' Radio Telescope with the Astrophysicist Behind Twitter's All-Time Sickest Burn" (in en-US). https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mgdx9b/astrokatie-mack-space-twitter. 
  18. "Katie Mack | Chancellor's Faculty Excellence Program | NC State University" (in en). 2018-01-08. https://facultyclusters.ncsu.edu/people/kmack/. 
  19. "Katherine Mack: Assistant Professor". https://www.physics.ncsu.edu/people/faculty_mack.php. 
  20. Brown, Mike (2021-12-07). "Katie Mack to join Perimeter as Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication | PI News". https://perimeterinstitute.ca/news/katie-mack-join-perimeter-hawking-chair-cosmology-and-science-communication. 
  21. @Perimeter (2022-06-03). "We're so thrilled to welcome you to Waterloo, Katie! Katie is the Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication, the perfect choice for a position with a dual focus on research and sharing science with the broader public.". https://twitter.com/Perimeter/status/1532815119348027392. 
  22. "Meet the 2022-2024 cohort of CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars" (in en-US). 2022-06-07. https://cifar.ca/cifarnews/2022/06/07/meet-the-2022-2024-cohort-of-cifar-azriel-global-scholars/. 
  23. Mack, Katie (2014-02-25). "I'm Looking for Evidence That Dark Matter Messed With Stars and Galaxies" (in en). https://slate.com/technology/2014/02/what-is-dark-matter-searching-with-gravity-lensing-wimps-and-antiparticles.html. 
  24. "Vacuum decay: the ultimate catastrophe" (in en). 14 September 2015. https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/vacuum-decay-ultimate-catastrophe. 
  25. Astrokatie (2012-08-31). "The Universe, in Theory: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Cosmos". https://astrokatie.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-long-dark-tea-time-of-cosmos.html. 
  26. "U of T Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics | Dark Matter, First Light" (in en-US). http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/events/katie-mack/. 
  27. Slezak, Michael. "Bright light may not be dark matter's smoking gun after all" (in en-US). https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28415-bright-light-may-not-be-dark-matters-smoking-gun-after-all/. 
  28. Mack, Katherine J. (11 April 2014). "Known unknowns of dark matter annihilation over cosmic time". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 439 (3): 2728–2735. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu129. Bibcode2014MNRAS.439.2728M. 
  29. Mack, Katherine J.; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Ricotti, Massimo (20 August 2007). "Growth of Structure Seeded by Primordial Black Holes". The Astrophysical Journal 665 (2): 1277–1287. doi:10.1086/518998. Bibcode2007ApJ...665.1277M. 
  30. Ricotti, Massimo; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.; Mack, Katherine J. (20 June 2008). "Effect of Primordial Black Holes on the Cosmic Microwave Background and Cosmological Parameter Estimates". The Astrophysical Journal 680 (2): 829–845. doi:10.1086/587831. Bibcode2008ApJ...680..829R. 
  31. "Death of a Universe | College of Sciences | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA". https://cos.gatech.edu/events/death-universe-0. [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  32. "Electric Lady Influencer of the Week: Katie Mack". 2017-04-28. https://www.electriclady.world/world/2017/5/28/electric-lady-influencer-of-the-week-katie-mack. 
  33. Mack, Katie (2017-06-12). "Black Holes, Cosmic Collisions and the Rippling of Spacetime". https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/black-holes-cosmic-collisions-and-the-rippling-of-spacetime/. 
  34. "Death of a Universe | La mort d'un Univers (25 February 2019) · Indico". https://indico.cern.ch/event/794501/page/16125-biographie-biography. 
  35. "Stories by Katie Mack" (in en). https://www.scientificamerican.com/katie-mack/. 
  36. "Katie Mack" (in en). https://www.theguardian.com/profile/katie-mack. 
  37. "Katie Mack" (in en). https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributors/katie-mack. 
  38. Mack, Katherine J.. "From black holes to dark matter, an astrophysicist explains" (in en). http://theconversation.com/from-black-holes-to-dark-matter-an-astrophysicist-explains-26019. 
  39. Halton, Mary (2018-03-28). "Ghost galaxy prompts cosmic mystery" (in en-GB). https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43543195. 
  40. "Astrophysicist Katie Mack lays the smackdown on mansplainer with droll Twitter burn". 2016-08-16. http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2016/08/16/astrophysicist-katie-mack-lays-the-smackdown-on-mansplainer-with-droll-twitter-burn/. 
  41. Mezzofiore, Gianluca (16 August 2016). "Astrophysicist had the perfect response to climate change denier" (in en). https://mashable.com/2016/08/16/astrophysicist-climate-change-skeptic-twitter-burn/. 
  42. Castelvecchi, Davide; Witze, Alexandra (11 February 2016). "Einstein's gravitational waves found at last". Nature: nature.2016.19361. doi:10.1038/nature.2016.19361. 
  43. Roston, Michael (11 February 2016). "Scientists Chirp Excitedly for LIGO, Gravitational Waves and Einstein". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/scientists-chirp-excitedly-for-ligo-gravitational-waves-and-einstein.html. 
  44. "Katie Mack is the 2017 Women in Physics Lecturer". 2017-04-04. http://aip.org.au/physicsapril2017/. 
  45. Knox Grammar School (2017-08-09), 'A Tour of the Universe' - Dr Katie Mack, 'Women in Physics' lecture, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX14qTJ5S3M, retrieved 2019-03-26 
  46. "Judges and Ambassadors". https://www.nature.com/collections/jcpghfmqlz/judgesambassadors. 
  47. "February 2019: Try turning it off and on again!". 11 February 2019. http://www.jodcast.net/archive/201902/. 
  48. "Sundance Film Festival: Juries, Awards Night Host Announced - Thursday, January 17th, 2019". 2019-01-17. https://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/2019-festival-jury-awards-night-host. 
  49. Bruton, Louise. "Hozier: 'If I wanted to make a f**king pop song, I would'" (in en). The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/hozier-if-i-wanted-to-make-a-f-king-pop-song-i-would-1.3794161. 
  50. "People - Sloan Science & Film". http://scienceandfilm.org/people/676/katherine-mack. 
  51. "Sloan Science & Film". http://scienceandfilm.org/articles/3205/katie-mack-on-the-expanses-accurate-physics. 
  52. 52.0 52.1 "Book Deals: Week of January 29, 2018". https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/75925-book-deals-week-of-january-29-2018.html. 
  53. "Book" (in en-US). http://www.astrokatie.com/book. 
  54. Gleick, James (August 4, 2020). "This Is How It All Ends". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/books/review/the-end-of-everything-katie-mack.html. 
  55. "Katie Mack: 'Knowing how the universe will end is freeing'". BBC News. August 3, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53607943. 
  56. "THE END OF EVERYTHING | Kirkus Reviews". https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/katie-mack/the-end-of-everything/. 
  57. "15 translations Tweet". https://twitter.com/AstroKatie/status/1334917628675158025. 
  58. Mack, Katie (2020-08-04) (in en). The End of Everything. ISBN 978-1-9821-0354-5. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-End-of-Everything/Katie-Mack/9781982103545. 
  59. "'I want you to live forward, but see backward': a theoretical astrophysicist's manifesto | Aeon Videos" (in en). https://aeon.co/videos/i-want-you-to-live-forward-but-see-backward-a-theoretical-astrophysicists-manifesto. 
  60. [1070 "Katie Mack | 500 Queer Scientists". https://500queerscientists.com/katie-mack/?ids=[1070. 

External links