Jessica Mink (formerly Douglas John Mink) is an American
software developer
Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, Computer programming, programming, software documentation, documenting, software testing, testing, and Software bugs, bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applic ...
and a
data archivist at the
Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. She was part of the team that discovered the
rings around the planet Uranus.
Early life and career
Mink was born in
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
in 1951 and graduated from
Dundee Community High School
Dundee-Crown High School is a high school located in the ghetto Carpentersville, Illinois, United States, a northwest suburb of Chicago.
Dundee-Crown High School was made from consolidating Dundee Community High School and Irving Crown High sch ...
in 1969. She earned an
S.B. degree (1973) and an
S.M. degree (1974) in
Planetary Science from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(MIT). She worked at Cornell University from 1976 to 1979 as an astronomical software developer. It was during this time that she was part of the team that discovered the
rings around Uranus. Within the team she was responsible for the data reduction software and the data analysis.
After working at Cornell she moved back to MIT, where she did work that contributed to the discovery of the rings of Neptune. She has written a number of commonly used software packages for astrophysics, including WCSTools and RVSAO.
Despite not having a PhD, Mink is a member of the
American Astronomical Society and the
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
.
Personal life
Mink is an avid bicycle user. She has served as an officer and director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition and has been the route planner for the Massachusetts portion of the
East Coast Greenway
The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits.
The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...
since 1991.
Mink is a transgender woman, and she publicly came out in 2011 at the age of 60.
She has since spoken out about her experiences transitioning. She was also featured in two articles about the experiences of transitioning in a professional environment.
She was a co-organiser of the 2015 Inclusive Astronomy conference at VanDerBilt University.
Mink currently lives in
(
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
), and has a daughter.
References
External links
Jessica Mink's Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mink, Jessica
1951 births
Living people
People from Lincoln, Nebraska
Harvard University staff
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Transgender women
LGBT people from Nebraska
LGBT scientists from the United States
Transgender scientists
Planetary scientists
Women planetary scientists