Jessica Mink

Jessica Mink (formerly Douglas John Mink[1]) is an American software developer and a data archivist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.[2] She was part of the team that discovered the rings around the planet Uranus.[3]

Jessica Mink
BornFebruary 1951 (age 69–70)
Lincoln, Nebraska
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forDiscovery of rings of Uranus

Early life and career

Mink was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1951[4] and graduated from Dundee Community High School in 1969. She earned an S.B. degree (1973) and an S.M. degree (1974) in Planetary Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She worked at Cornell University from 1976 to 1979 as an astronomical software developer.[5] It was during this time that she was part of the team that discovered the rings around Uranus.[6] Within the team she was responsible for the data reduction software and the data analysis.[7] After working at Cornell she moved back to MIT, where she did work that contributed to the discovery of the rings of Neptune.[8] She has written a number of commonly used software packages for astrophysics, including WCSTools and RVSAO.[7][9]

Despite not having a PhD, Mink is a member of the American Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union.[10]

Personal life

Mink is an avid bicycle user.[11] She has served as an officer and director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition[12] and has been the route planner for the Massachusetts portion of the East Coast Greenway since 1991.

Mink is a transgender woman, and she publicly came out in 2011 at the age of 60.[13] She has since spoken out about her experiences transitioning.[14] She was also featured in two articles about the experiences of transitioning in a professional environment.[13][15] She was a co-organiser of the 2015 Inclusive Astronomy conference at VanDerBilt University.[16]

Mink currently lives in Massachusetts (USA), and has a daughter named Sarah.

References
  1. "Doug to Jessica". Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  2. Craggs, Charlie (2017-10-19). To My Trans Sisters. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 9781784506681.
  3. Elliot, J.L.; E. Dunham; D. Mink (1977). "The Rings of Uranus". Nature. 267 (5609): 328–330. Bibcode:1977Natur.267..328E. doi:10.1038/267328a0.
  4. Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology. 1st ed. 1984-1985. Chicago 1984, p. 512
  5. "Jessica D. Mink". tdc-www.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  6. "40 years of Uranus's rings | BBC Sky at Night Magazine". www.skyatnightmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  7. Richey, Christina (2016-08-16). "Women In Astronomy: Meet Your CSWA: Jessica Mink". Women In Astronomy. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  8. "Women in Atmospheric Sciences Luncheon". 2018 AMS Annual Meeting. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  9. "IMWCS Image World Coordinate Setting Utility". tdc-www.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  10. "WGLE interviews: Jessica Mink | SGMA". sgma.aas.org. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  11. O’Connor, Brion. "Still on a bike in winter weather". edition.pagesuite.com. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  12. "Jessica Mink, MassPaths Webmistress". March 11, 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. Clark, Dorie (2015-02-03). "Managing Your Professional Identity During a Gender Change". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  14. Kirkpatrick, Jessica (2014-12-16). "Women In Astronomy: On Being a Transgender Astronomer". Women In Astronomy. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  15. Clark, Dorie (2015-02-05). "What to Do When Your Colleague Comes Out as Transgender". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  16. "Inclusive Astronomy Conference Confronts Diversity Issues". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
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