Emily Rice is an astronomy professor at the Macaulay Honors College at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

. In addition to her scientific contributions to the study of the atmospheric properties of low mass astronomical bodies, she has become well known for her astronomy-related public outreach projects. She is the co-founder of the astro-centric fashion shop STARtorialist, a host for the public outreach series Astronomy on Tap, a parody video creator, and a current research associate for the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

in New York City.Hanson, Alex
"Astrophysics, Fashion, and DJ Carly Sagan: An Interview with Emily Rice"
'' HERpothesis'', 20 January 2016. Retrieved on 5 November 2016. She has appeared as a guest on the popular podcast StarTalk (podcast), and was a host for their spinoff show, StarTalk All-Stars. Rice also served as a public presenter at the Hayden Planetarium in New York.

Education

Rice attended the University of Pittsburgh where she was awarded two B.A. degrees, one in Physics & Astronomy, and the other in German. Following her graduation from the University of Pittsburgh, she then moved to Los Angeles where she completed her M.S. and her Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her master's thesis centered around the characterization of stars within the a young star cluster in the constellation of

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. The results of her thesis, which relied upon high-resolution spectra obtained by

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, were published in the Astrophysical Journal in 2006 and in the upcoming Handbook of Star Forming Regions. For her Ph.D., Rice investigated the physical properties of brown dwarf atmospheres and current model deficiencies via near-infrared spectra. Once her Ph.D. was completed, she served as a postdoctoral fellow for Rebecca Oppenheimer at the American Museum of Natural History in the Exoplanet Group.

Career

Rice is a current faculty member in the Macaulay Honors College. From 2011 to 2019, she was in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the College of Staten Island, which is also part of the City University of New York. In addition to her role as an Associate Professor, she is also a founding member of the Brown Dwarfs in New York City (BDNYC) research group. Her work primarily focuses on near-infrared spectra to characterize the properties of the lowest mass objects in our galaxy, namely: brown dwarfs, very low-mass stars, and giant exoplanets, as well as investigating stellar and planetary system formation mechanisms. Her work has resulted in over 30 co-authored publications. Rice also co-designed and authored a collection of introductory astronomy labs for use in entry-level astronomy courses entitled Astronomy Labs: A Concept Oriented Approach. She is also well known for her continued involvement with the American Museum of Natural History as a research associate and occasional planetarium presenter at the Hayden Planetarium. In 2015, she was awarded the Henry Wasser Award for Outstanding Scholarship from CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences.

Public outreach

Though she has made tremendous contributions to her field of research, Rice stands out for her successful public outreach activities. She is the co-founder, with

Summer Ash Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, with ...

of an astronomy-centered fashion blog called the STARtorialist, which boasts the tagline: "Where science meets fashion and scientists get fabulous". She also dons the moniker DJ Carly Sagan, in honor of the legendary science popularizer

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...

, to organize and host engaging, free-to-the-public science gatherings and presentations at bars in New York City as part of the Astronomy on Tap series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Emily Living people College of Staten Island faculty American Museum of Natural History American women astronomers Year of birth missing (living people)