Sarah Ballard

Sarah Ashley Ballard
Ballard in 2021
Born1984 (age 39–40)
EducationB.A. Astrophysics, UC Berkeley
Ph.D. Astronomy and Astrophysics, Harvard (2012)
Known forDiscovery of Kepler-19c (first exoplanet by transit-timing variation)
Scientific career
FieldsExoplanetary astrophysics
Thesis In Pursuit of New Worlds: Searches for and Studies of Transiting Exoplanets from Three Space-Based Observatories  (2012)
Doctoral advisorDavid Charbonneau
Websitedrballard.space

Sarah Ballard (born 1984[1]) is an American astronomer who is a professor at the University of Florida.[2] She has been a Torres Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[3][4] a L'Oreal Fellow,[5] and a NASA Carl Sagan Fellow.[6]

Ballard was part of a collaborative team that was the first to successfully use the transit-timing variation method. This resulted in her team's confirmation of this theoretical search procedure and the discovery of the Kepler-19 planetary system with that technique.[7] Ballard took part in the discovery of four exoplanets (early numbered) in the Kepler spacecraft mission prior to its finding of significant quantities of planets around other stars.

Ballard has spoken about her experience as a victim of sexual harassment,[8][9] about imposter syndrome, and about the controversy over the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories.

  1. ^ Sarah Ballard, "Directions to the Nearest Alien Earth-like Planet" on YouTube, NYU Special [Public] Colloqium, 2013 October 11.
  2. ^ University of Florida, Department of Astronomy Faculty
  3. ^ Rodulfo, Kristina (October 13, 2015), "Meet 5 Scientists Paving the Path for Women in STEM: L'Oréal announces recipients of the For Women in Science Fellowship", Elle
  4. ^ Speier, Jackie (July 13, 2016), "Congresswoman Speier to Host Discussion about Sexual Harassment in Science", United States House of Representatives official website
  5. ^ L'Oréal USA Announces 2015 For Women in Science Fellows, L'Oréal USA, October 13, 2015
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference nexsci was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Ballard, Sarah; et al. (2011), "The Kepler-19 System: A Transiting 2.2 R⊕ Planet and a Second Planet Detected via Transit Timing Variations", The Astrophysical Journal, 743 (2): 200, arXiv:1109.1561, Bibcode:2011ApJ...743..200B, doi:10.1088/0004-637X/743/2/200
  8. ^ "Was UC Berkeley too easy on professor accused of sexual harassment?". Christian Science Monitor. 14 October 2015.
  9. ^ Overbye, Dennis (10 October 2015). "Geoffrey Marcy, Astronomer at Berkeley, Apologizes for Behavior". The New York Times.