<p><b>What does being a scientist mean to you?</b><br></p><p>To me, science is about thinking rationally, solving
problems and enjoying learning new things about the universe. <br></p><p>People who are not professional scientists can also be
scientists. This is the idea behind "citizen science" projects: <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/">https://www.zooniverse.org</a>. You, too, can be a
scientist, even if it’s only for an hour at a time!<br></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br></p><p><b>Can you summarize the main focus of your research and what
drew you to that field of study/work?</b><br></p><p></p><div>I use numerical simulations to model how stars like our sun
formed. When I was a physics graduate student I was interested in working on
some kind of computational modeling. It turns out there are a lot of really
interesting complex problems in astrophysics that you can only study with large
computers. The study of star formation has a lot of different physics in it:
gravity, magnetic fields, turbulence, and radiation. These interact in
nonlinear and sometimes unexpected ways, which make star formation a fun thing
to model. I also use the simulations to make cool movie<br></div><p></p><div><br></div>