Dr. Aomawa Shields Featured in Science Article

Dr. Aomawa Shields is featured in Science’s article, “Summer reading 2023”, for her memoir, Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding my Place in the Universe.

Excerpts from article, credit to Clare Fieseler:

“Shields’s powerfully personal book tells the story of a Black woman with two passions finding her place in the world. After a failed first start as an astrophysics PhD student, Shields pursued professional acting for a decade. She eventually returned to the stars—and graduate school—restarting a career as an astrobiologist and, later, professor. Her journey is filled with self-doubt and serious soul-searching, but here’s what is clear: Modern science is still built for the easily defined worker. As a scientist-turned-journalist myself, I said ‘yes’ out loud multiple times as I read how hard it was for Shields to be an interdisciplinarian and career-pivoter.”

“In Life on Other Planets, Shields makes a stand against a kind of unbridled scientific success that comes at any cost.”

“Shields makes a case for togetherness, with each other and within ourselves.”