Jarita Charmian Holbrook is an American

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

and associate professor of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

(UWC) where they are principal investigator of the Astronomy & Society group. Holbrook's work examines the relationship between humans and the night sky, and they have produced scientific publications on cultural astronomy, starburst galaxies, and star formation regions.

Early life and education

Jarita Holbrook was born in 1965 in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

and grew up in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California. Holbrook comes from a family of academics: their grandparents, James and Mary Holbrook, were both professors at

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. O ...

, their aunt, Edna Holbrook, is an assistant professor in the Mathematics department at

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

and both of their parents obtained science degrees. Holbrook studied physics at

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(Caltech) and earned a B.S. in 1987. After completing their undergraduate studies, Holbrook (RPCV) did their Peace Corps service as a science teacher in Fiji at the Ratu Navula Secondary School. They then continued their physics education at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

leading to an M.S. in Astronomy in 1992. After completing their M.S., they worked at the NASA

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

. Holbrook received their PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

in 1997 where they investigated star formation efficiency in the

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

focusing on Orion BN-kl and GL 2136.

Career

Post-PhD, Holbrook shifted focus to the interdisciplinary field of cultural astronomy and they began laying the foundation for encouraging research on African Indigenous Astronomy. During this time, Holbrook worked at UCLA's Center for the Cultural Studies of Science, Technology, and Medicine as an

NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...

Minority Postdoctoral Fellow with

Sharon Traweek Sharon Jean Traweek is associate professor in the Department of Gender Studies and History at University of California, Los Angeles. Her book '' Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists'', which explores the social world of part ...

. They also did postdoctoral work at the

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) is a scientific research institute founded in March 1994. It is dedicated to addressing fundamental questions of the history of knowledg ...

. After completing their postdoctoral work, Holbrook took a position at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology. Their work examined indigenous African astronomy and how celestial navigation continues to be practiced regardless of electronic navigational aids such as the Global Positioning System (GPS). In addition, they studied navigation by the stars among ocean-going communities in Fiji, Tunisia, and the USA; organized the first African Cultural Astronomy conference in Ghana (2006); and began research on diversity issues among astrophysicists. This work led to their attaining academic positions in applied

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

(UA) and

Gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

(UCLA). While at UCLA, Holbrook continued studying diversity issues among astrophysicists in collaboration with cultural anthropologist

. They also began the AIP-AAS Oral History Project recording the lives of scientists and others connected to astronomy & astrophysics, and completed a study of the South African National Astrophysics and Space Sciences Programme (NASSP). Holbrook has served as Vice President of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture (2008) and president of the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society, the Association of Women Faculty at the University of Arizona (2009) and the International Society of Archaeoastronomy & Astronomy in Culture (2018). In 2016-2017 they were an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

's Office of International Science and Engineering. Holbrook has also written, produced, and starred in the films ''Black Suns: An Astrophysics Adventure'' (2017), ''SKA ≥ Karoo Radio Telescope'' (2016), and ''Hubble's Diverse Universe'' (2009). They are the co-creator of several educational YouTube series including Inside-A-Scientist's-Suitcase, Astronomy in Cape Town, and Science Tourist. Holbrook advocates for women and ethnic minorities in Astronomy and Science. They were elected a Legacy Fellow of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

in 2020.

Personal life

Holbrook married their former classmate and fellow astrophysicist Dr. Romeel Davé. They have two children.

References

External links

*
JC Holbrook on Academia.edu
* JC Holbrook'
Cultural Astronomy Channel on YouTube

Science Tourist on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holbrook, Jarita 1965 births Living people People from Honolulu American women astrophysicists American women film producers California Institute of Technology alumni Academic staff of the University of the Western Cape American historians of science San Diego State University alumni University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Fellows of the American Astronomical Society American women academics 21st-century American women