Meet the Glorious Women of Astronomy
Meet Anupreeta More, an astronomer, mother and a vocal environmentalist at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IUCAA).
Reportage by Kanchan Soni and Deepali Agarwal
What drove you to pursue Astrophysics as a research career?
I was fascinated by the science field and stories of scientists, in general, from my childhood days. I was immensely curious about the fundamental questions of the Universe and our place in the Universe. Additionally, I realised that I possessed skills such as logical and critical thinking that were suited for a career in a scientific field. Many of these factors gradually led me to take up research in Astronomy.
What hardships did you go through while being in your field?
I can't think of any hardships that are specific to my field or that I had to face. One always has to deal with some kinds of hurdles but these could be there in any profession.
Could you list out the achievements in the course of research?
I have received the Marie Curie fellowship, CNRS (France) fellowship and JSPS fellowship (Japan) during my PhD and post-doctoral research career. I am a co-recipient of Hubble Space Telescope Grant for some scientific projects. I am also one of the winners of Lenovo AI Challenge 2019.
Apart from research, what hobbies do you share?
I don't pursue any hobby on a regular basis as such. I sketch sometimes and I love movies. I am passionate about environmental issues, particularly, because of the drastic adverse effects that are happening due to the current lifestyles of human beings. I make conscious efforts in reducing my carbon footprint and adopting a greener and simpler lifestyle as much as I can. I am also vocal about these issues.
As a member of the LVK collaboration, how would you like to contribute to the Science community?
I often engage with the science community through lectures, workshops or informal discussions with the junior members.
What are your thoughts on Women in STEM?
STEM is for everyone. We need to actively encourage women to choose STEM as many of them are discouraged from doing so. Often times they are actively discouraged by their family and social circles and sometimes this happens subtly over the years by promoting gender stereotypes. By being aware of this issue and openly talking about it is the only way to alleviate this problem. Not to mention, therefore, more women and men from the STEM community need to voice this issue.