Isabelle J Jones

I am a proud south Florida native, born in Jupiter and raised in West Palm Beach. I fell in love with astronomy when I first learned about the planets of the Solar System in elementary school. Seeing the vibrant colors of Neptune and Uranus sparked a deep passion within me. Ever since, I hungrily consumed any content I could on space: books from the library, class lectures, youtube videos, etc. In high school, I started a club with other students at my school called the Space Exploration and Engineering Club (SEEC). It was the first time that I had a space where I could share my love of astronomy with others.

For undergrad I attened the University of Florida (UF). Graduating during the COIVD-19 pandemic, it took me some time to find and join the astronomy community and truly understand not just what it took to become an astrophsyicist, but how to be the astrophysicist that I wanted to be. During my time at UF, I assisted in outreach events for the Department of Astronomy, worked as an Undergraduated Teaching Assitant, conducted research, and was an officer of the Gator Chapter of the National Society of Black Physicists. Outside of my major, I took extra humanities and art courses to round my worldview and establish my priorities for what I want to contribute to the scientific community outside of my science: increasing the number of Black and brown students in STEM and bridging the gap between science and the arts.

In 2024 I graduated from UF with a BS in astrophysics in the spring. In the summer, I was a Simons-NSBP Scholar conducting a research project at the Center for Computational Astrophysics in New York City (please go to the research page to learn more!). In the fall, I moved from the Sunshine State to the Golden State to start graduate school at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

As a graduate student, I do my best to balance the challenging responsibilities of being a graduate student and also exploring and cultivating my hobbies and passions outside of astronomy. Outside of research and school work, I like making art and music, writing songs, reading books on Greek mythology, and weightlifting.