ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
CHASING THE STARS Alum’s mix of astronomy and education is
out of this world. By Nicholas A. Love
Some people spend their whole childhood chasing after gold stars in school. Michelle Nichols ’02 wasn’t interested in the stickers on her tests — she was looking up at the night sky. Nichols’ life-long passion for astronomy took off when she first saw the 1980s PBS series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage,” narrated by American astronomer Carl Sagan.
“It changed my life,” she recalled.
Her family soon purchased a membership to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and began visiting regularly. And unlike some childhood dreams of space, Nichol’s dedication to astronomy did not waver as she grew up — while in high school she attended a space camp in Huntsville, Ala., and during her college years she volunteered at the Staerkel Planetarium in Champaign, Ill. Her Start at Adler Nichols’ career in astronomy began with an internship, like many careers do. But her story is not what you think. She applied for an internship opening at the Adler Planetarium and was asked to sit for an interview, but the selection committee decided to go with a different candidate. Exercising some well-honed interview etiquette, Nichols sent a thank you letter to Adler expressing her gratitude for the interview and her continued interest in any future openings. A couple weeks later, she received a phone call: there was a new opening at Adler. Once again, she sat for an interview. Only this time, she was offered a position with the planetarium.
Over 22 Years Later Now Nichols is the director of public observing, part of the Astronomy Department at Adler. And her list of responsibilities is extensive. She supervises Adler’s sky observing and telescope observing programs, manages the Doane Observatory, leads the ‘Scopes in the City outreach program and the telescope facilitation volunteer program, and helps with special observing programs when there’s something interesting or unique happening in the sky. The list goes on. She also acts as a liaison for media, journalists and major publications interested in the Adler’s expertise, works with her peers to plan future exhibits and conducts telescope training workshops. It’s a daunting list of tasks, but you wouldn’t know it the way Nichols talks about her work: “It’s fun basically every day,” Nichols explained.
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National Louis University VIEW | Spring 2018
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