Astrobiologist of the Month

NATALIE HINKEL
“I am a planetary astrophysicist - which means that I try to understand the relationship between stars and planets. More specifically, I look at the amount of elements inside of stars (or element abundances) and - since stars and planets are made at the same time and from the same material - use that as a way to understand the composition of small planets, since we can't measure that directly. I created and currently run the largest database of elements measured within nearby stars called the Hypatia Catalog (www.hypatiacatalog.com). Overall, I like looking at large patterns and working with scientists from other fields like geology and biology. In terms of hobbies, I like to weight lift or rock climb, I go hiking when I can, I enjoy sewing and cooking.”

Position
Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University (LSU)

Career Pathway
Undergraduate/bachelors degree: Oberlin College
Graduate/PhD: Arizona State University (ASU)
Postdoctoral Researcher (which means research post-doctoral degree or post-PhD and is considered “training” prior to becoming a professor or professional astrophysicist): Caltech, San Francisco State University, and Vanderbilt.

I'll note that I got a very well-rounded education at Oberlin, which is a small liberal arts school.  I took upper level English/Literature courses, I did many years of theater, and I took art and dance classes. All of these areas have helped me to be a better scientist/science communicator and makes me more unique.

Research Topics
While the core of my research tends to center around the composition of stars (or their elemental abundances), I try to keep my research projects flexible so I can pivot to whatever is new or interesting. So right now I work on: 

- Stellar abundance analysis for nearby main-sequence stars, including investigation of measurement techniques and methodologies, especially for interdisciplinary scientists.

- Study of the chemical interplay between exoplanets and their host stars, specifically the composition of M-dwarf stars which are very difficult to measure from the ground but are the best place to detect small Earth-like planets. I'm the PI of a NASA mission proposal to fly a balloon around Antartica to measure the composition of M-dwarfs above the Earth's atmosphere, where they are easier to absorb.

- Computational astrophysics and machine learning algorithms, especially given that the Hypatia Catalog is a multidimensional database. 

Why did you decide to become an Astrobiologist?
The core of doing exoplanet science is being interdisciplinary - namely, it takes astronomers to understand the star and how it might influence the planet, planetary scientists to research the dynamics of all the planets in the system, geologists to look into the planet's interior, atmospheric scientists to determine all of the processes that contribute to atmospheric composition, and biologists to determine whether key ingredients are available to life - plus the way all of these different factors interact with one another! It takes so much to make a planet habitable (or not habitable) so working with experts in all of these fields has always felt like the natural way to truly characterize an exoplanet. Plus, I enjoy learning about different scientific perspectives - so teaming up with people in different (sub)fields is both fun and rewarding! 

If your lab/research group had a nickname, what would it be?
It would probably be named after a historical woman or ancient goddess - like many of my projects.

Are you accepting students?
Yes! I am looking to bring on people who can help cultivate a positive work environment where everyone is inclusive, empathetic, motivated, and excited to learn. These traits are especially important given that a lot of the research is interdisciplinary - often involving skills or knowledge from geology and data science, as well as astronomy.

PhD students (for more information, click here)