Prize Recipient

Alyse Rothrock

Background:

The night sky has always intrigued me. I could see the beauty and majestic wonders it held, but other than gazing, I was completely clueless as to what was up there. Growing up and living in rural Missouri, it was easy to find the Big Dipper and Orion, but any other constellation was hidden among the myriad of twinkling lights.

Then I found out I had been chosen to participate in the Earthwatch Expedition, "Transient Phenomena in Astrophysics" and I was ecstatic. I learned I would be staying and studying for two weeks at Los Alamos National Laboratory. My time spent at Los Alamos proved to be priceless. Since that initial experience with astrophysics, I have been hooked. This next year I will be attending Washington University in St. Louis and studying physics. In the future I hope to do research for the further exploration and explanation of space.