Rachel grew up ten miles east of Boulder, CO. While young, she explored many activities and eventually dedicated herself to dance, vocal music, and tennis as her primary activities outside of academic pursuits. She still enjoys taking dance classes, sings regularly (though now in primarily in the kitchen), and is always looking for someone to hit with on the court.

For university, Rachel made the long trek down Arapahoe Rd. to The University of Colorado at Boulder where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Astrophysics and Philosophy. While in school, she enjoyed a job as a barista at local beloved coffee shop and poetry bookstore, Innisfree. She taught and tutored across many disciplines through the athletics department and served many courses as an undergraduate Learning Assistant. In her final years at CU, she worked at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in her first long-term research science position with Prof. Mark Rast.

Rachel then moved to Madison, WI to pursue a PhD in Astronomy where she completed work on the formation and evolution of galactic bars in disk galaxies. 

Travel Photos