Isabel Hawkins
Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley

When I was 10 years old, an unsuspecting encyclopedia salesman came to our home in Cordoba, Argentina, to sell us a special book on the solar system. I looked at the marvelous images of Jupiter and the other planets, and I was hooked! Ever since then, I knew I wanted to be an astronomer. I was also interested in volleyball, and played on our neighborhood team through high school. Trendy clothes were so important when I was growing up, and I tried my best to wear them!

Math and Science were something you did just like Spanish and Geography, so I chugged along studying for my various subjects, and then I decided to try out for an exchange program that would give me a chance to live in the United States for a year. I came to the US when I was 16 years old, and did my last year of high school here, in Los Altos, California. After a year back home, I returned to the States and got married to my high school sweetheart.

Nine years later, with a B.S. in Physics, and a Masters and Ph.D. in astronomy, I began to get involved in NASA projects studying various parts of the Universe. I specialized first in the interstellar medium, the "stuff between the stars," but since 1994 I have been working on sharing NASA space science discoveries with students, teachers, and the public. The NASA Sun-Earth Connection (how our dynamic Sun affects the Earth and other planets) has been my focus since 1997. I love my job, and the people I work with. I especially love interacting with young people—particularly girls interested in science. My interests also include cooking, kickboxing, and golf. I putt better than I drive, considering I learned how to drive cars in Argentina!