23 Marcelle Soares-Santos

Marcelle Soares-Santos

Time period:

21st century-present

Subject:

Physics; Experimental Cosmology and Astrophysics

Biography:

Soares-Santos was born in Vitória on the coast of Brasil in 1983, and had a penchant for science throughout childhood and adolescence. She graduated from the Federal University of Espirito Santo in 2004 to obtain her Physics degree, and went on further to pursue her Master’s degree and doctorate in astronomy at the University of São Paulo in 2010. In recognition of her early work she has been granted the Alvin Tollestrup Award for her postdoctoral research in 2014, and has been featured by major news outlets worldwide. She contributed to the construction of the Dark Energy Camera to successfully detect the first neutron star collision to be observed. As one of the largest telescope cameras in the world, this was coined the science breakthrough of the year in 2017. As she progressed in her career she was bestowed the Sloan Research Fellowship in 2019, which is one of the most competitive and prestigious awards allocated to emerging researchers. Past recipients of this fellowship have risen to become Nobel Prize winners.

Summary of their contributions:

Her research delves into uncovering the nature of the accelerated expansion of the cosmos. Using traditional and modern methods such as the Dark Energy Camera to observe the expedited expansion of the universe, she has been able to search for gravitational wave-emitting collisions of black holes and neutron stars. Her main focus has been upon weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clusters however, her experiments led her to endeavour with the development of instrumentation and detector technology which are at the head of the field towards imagining and spectroscopic experiments. Soares-Santos is also a strong advocate for inclusivity and belonging within science frameworks and academic spaces.

Integration with the BC Secondary Science Curriculum:

The main topics in our curriculum investigates the measurement of motion, forces and energy interactions occurring in fields, momentum being conserved within a closed and isolated system, and lastly forces which cause linear and circular motion. Recognizing these fields and their effects upon the conservation and transformation of energy from a cosmic stance, students may gain a more profound appreciation towards their fundamental physics principles and inquire how our world is created and ponder towards its evolution. By using simulators, engaging examples, and hands-on activities, teachers may insert the universal applications of physical concepts to delve into the mysteries of the universe.

References:

University of Michigan. (2023). https://lsa.umich.edu/physics/people/faculty/marcelle-soares-santos.html

National Academy of Sciences. (2023). https://www.nasonline.org/programs/kavli-frontiers-of-science/frontiers-alumni/alumni-directory/marcelle-soares-santos.html

Goodman, L. (2019). Physicist Marcelle Soares-Santos receives the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship. BrandeisNow. https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2019/february/sloan-soares-santos.html