Bard College Professor Clara Sousa-Silva named on ‘List of Ten Scientists to Watch’ by Science News
Annandale-On-Hudson— Clara Sousa-Silva, assistant professor of physics at Bard College, has been named one of the ten 2023 “Scientists to Watch” by Science News for her work in quantum astrochemistry. The list, now in its eighth year, spotlights ten early- and mid-career scientists on their way to widespread acclaim.
Sousa-Silva’s research studies how molecules in space interact with light, essential groundwork for scientists figuring out what the astronomical objects glimpsed through telescopes are made of. One day, she hopes her work will help identify traces of life in the atmospheres of worlds beyond Earth, including exoplanets, planets outside our solar system that humans will almost certainly never visit.
Each scientist named was selected by a committee of Science News writers and editors (many of whom are experts in their fields) for their potential to shape the science of the future. “While I don’t believe in ranking scientists, I am delighted to see my work be meaningful to others,” Sousa-Silva said. “My interests lie in the molecular characterization of extra-solar planets and making science a more inclusive world.”
She came to Bard College after serving as a quantum astrochemist at the Center for Astrophysics, a collaboration between the Harvard College Observatory and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Prior to her tenure at the center, she was a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Her July 2021 TED talk, “The Fingerprints of Life beyond Earth,” makes the case for a new way to seek and possibly discover habitable planets and shares her research into a poisonous, smelly molecule that might signal life beyond Earth.
Clara Sousa-Silva spends most of her time studying molecules that life can produce so that, one day, she can detect an alien biosphere, but when she is not deciphering exoplanet atmospheres, Sousa-Silva works hard to persuade the next generation of scientists to become an active part of the astronomical community. She served as the director of the Science Research Mentoring Program at the Center for Astrophysics and MIT; and was head of education for the Twinkle Space Mission, a British project to explore exoplanets, and coordinator for EduTwinkle, an outreach and educational program connecting British schools with space missions.
Sousa-Silva holds a doctoral degree in quantum chemistry from the University College London, and a masters degree in physics and astronomy from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Among her many achievements, Sousa-Silva is the recipient of the prestigious 51 b Pegasi Fellowship from the Heising Simons Foundation. The fellowship supports the growing field of planetary astronomy and exceptional postdoctoral scientists who make unique contributions to the field of astronomy. Her work and commentary has been featured in the BBC, WIRED, and the New York Times, among many others. She has also received a Sagan Fellowship and an MIT research grant for her proposal “Creating a Rosetta Stone for the Interpretation of Exoplanet Biospheres.”
