About Me
Background
Hi and thank you for visiting my page to get to know me! I'm originally from Orange Country, California but grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada (colloquially the 9th island of Hawai'i!). I'm very happy to be back under the sun in Hawai'i after four (cold) years of college in New York. When I'm not doing academic things, you can find me hiking, skateboarding, eating, or (most likely) doting on my rescue kitten Calcifer. I also dabble in drawing and tattooing, just for fun (shameless plug :0). One of my biggest influences and role models in life is my big sister, Jane, who is also working toward a PhD, in computer science!
Education
Ph.D. Astronomy (in progress), Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
M.S. Earth and Planetary Sciences, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI
B.A. Astronomy (Honors) and Cognitive Science with minor in Chemistry, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
Research Interests
I'm broadly interested in all things star-planet interactions. I am currently detecting and characterizing extremely hot Earth-sized planets. I used study stellar rotation, multiplicity, and activity of young M dwarfs, as well as the disks and planetary systems around them. I use IR spectrographs on Mauna Kea to look for binary systems, measure radial velocities, and measure magnetic field strengths.
Research
PI: Fei Dai, UH Mānoa
Measuring masses and compositions of Ultra-Short-Period Earth-sized planets using extreme-precision RVs and JWST
- Extreme Solar Systems V Conference 2024, oral presentation
California Planet Search. PI: Andrew Howard, Caltech
Observational campaign to detect and characterize exoplanets using Keck HIRES and KPF
- 4 half-nights observing with KPF
Waves2Worlds Research Group. PI: Eric Gaidos, UH Mānoa
Obtaining, reducing, and analyzing IR data from Maunakea Observatories and other sources to study the rotation and activity of young M dwarf stars and the implications for the evolution of their planets; observational campaign to detect and measure the stellar masses of companions in binary systems.
- Lee, R. A. et al. Dec 2023, MNRAS.
- Gaidos, E., Hirano, T., Lee, R. A. et al. Nov 2022, MNRAS..
- 2022 NExSci Carl Sagan Summer Workshop, poster presentation
- 2021 NExSci Carl Sagan Summer Workshop, poster presentation
- Gaidos, E. et al. 2021, MNRAS. including Lee, R. A. (press release)
iSHELL Precision Radial Velocity Team. PI: Peter Plavchan, George Mason Univerity
Collaborator and observer for IR spectroscopic follow-up of TESS Objects of Interest, detecting and characterizing exoplanets around M Dwarf stars by radial velocity analysis.
MAVEN IUVS Science Team. PI: Sonal Jain, CU Boulder
Operated and optimized laboratory vacuum chamber equipment, electron gun, and flight spare spectrographs (MAVEN IUVS, GOLD) to obtain electron impact-induced fluorescence spectra from common planetary gases; developed data reduction and visualization routines.
- Lee, R. A. et al. 2022, ApJ.
- Gérard, J.-C., Soret, L., Lee, R. A. et al. 2022, EPSC.
- Lee, R. A. et al. 2021, JGR: Planets.
- Ajello, J. et al. 2019, JGR: Space Physics. including Lee, R. A.
Outreach + Service
I'm very committed to increasing access and equity from primary to post-secondary education. While an undergraduate at Vassar College, I was largely involved in the Vassar Education Collaboration (f.k.a. Vassar College Urban Education Initiative), volunteering to mentor middle and high school students in Dutchess County, New York. Now in Hawai'i, I'm mentoring high school students in astronomy projects, in addition to public outreach and education events. Please feel free to contact me with questions about any of my regular outreach orgs!
I am currently a Remote Fellow with the International Astronomical Union's Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) in Cape Town, South Africa. The OAD funds projects around the world, usually in underserved regions, for educational and economical advancement through leveraging astronomy, its infrastructures and facilities, and astronomers. I work on project impact evaluations and reporting.
Outreach
- I was the Graduate Outreach Representative for the Institute for Astronomy from 2022-2023. One of my initiatives is to get my department involved in non-academic outreach activities, such as land restoration and preservation.
- Every summer, I work as a HI-STAR Astronomy Summer Camp Mentor, guiding high school students through week-long astronomy projects to prepare for the state science fair.
- I'm a mentor for Maunakea Scholars, bringing high school students into the observational astronomy community through proposal writing and education. We use telescope data from MKO to conduct original research projects to compete in the science fair.
- I regularly volunteer for Institute for Astronomy outreach events, such as Open House (pictured above), stargazing nights, telescope demonstrations, etc.
- I'm a volunteer with Honua Scholars , empowering local students in Hawai'i to pursue advanced degrees and careers in STEM. We host various workshops, seminars, and symposia for academic and career advice in a range of STEM disciplines for students in grade school to graduate school. Check out our site for upcoming events!
DEI
- I was the graduate student representative on the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee in the Earth and Planetary Sciences department at UH during academic year 2021-2022. Please check out our student JEDI council page, Huliāmahi
- I'm a QuestBridge Finalist Alum and Volunteer. I'm very intent on recruiting local students in Hawai'i to apply to the QuestBridge National College Match, especially those facing intersectional barriers to higher education beyond financial strain.
Resources for Graduate Students
- I am currently the Institute for Astronomy representative for the Graduate Student Organization at UH in 2023, helping to allocate funding and merit scholarships to UH graduate students in all fields.
- NSF GRFP: There are many useful graduate student resources publicly available for applying to the NSF GRFP; I particularly liked Alex Lang's, where I have volunteered my personal statement, research proposal, and feedback in their spreadsheet of successful examples.
- I keep a (somewhat irregularly updated) spreadsheet of Scholarships and Fellowships that pertain to graduate students at large, astronomy grads, and students in Hawai'i. Eligibilities vary, but it's a good running list of possible funding sources and awards for students like me. If you have any suggestions or questions, let me know!
- I was the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department representative for the Graduate Student Organization in 2022.
Cats!
Calcifer is my rescue kitten. He was born in October 2021 in the streets of Ewa along with five siblings, who were all abandoned by their parents. A fellow graduate student fostered them, and one day we all got a random email from her offering up free kittens. I was immediately drawn to Cal's unique eyes. At first, I didn't think I could handle such a young kitten, so I convinced my friends to adopt him (so I could selfishly play with him without any responsibility). When we went to meet him and his siblings, he ran into my arms and I just couldn't let him go, so the friends ended up adopting one of his sisters and I got Cal. He is extremely clingy, cuddly, and playful. Even as I am setting up this website, he is laying on my arm and making it difficult to type (pictured above). He always greets me with loud meows after a day at the office, and won't sleep at night unless I'm next to him. He is also a surprisingly good hunter. To my dismay, he has gifted me a live B52 cockroach and small bird before. I suppose he's still an alley cat at heart.
I went to the Kapahulu cat cafe and met Kabu when he was just a scrawny little baby. He was born with a fever coat, so I thought he looked so funny like an old man. He still has some of his white hairs! Though he was tiny, Kabu was scrappy and playful even with the bigger cats at the cafe, and I knew he would be the perfect brother to Cal who was feisty and anxious before Kabu came along. It took some getting used to, but now the two are inseparable. They literally scream when they can't see each other. Kabu hasn't grown much in frame since we got him, but is now significantly larger radially.
Contact
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email about any questions you may have about my research, graduate school experience, outreach projects, etc!
Email: renaalee [at] hawaii [dot] edu
Office: B-101, IfA Mānoa
