Second Century Initiative (2CI) fellow Deborah Gulledge is planning on using her research to apply to NASA’s Astronaut Corps after graduating.
Gulledge, from Mount Pleasant, Tenn., is a 2CI Fellow at Georgia State. She began her college career at Austin Peay University in Clarksville, Tenn., where she received her bachelor’s degree in physics and minored in mathematics and astronomy. She is currently in a doctoral program at Georgia State that will provide her with a Ph.D. in Astronomy and later, a Master’s in Physics.
Gulledge said she has been interested in astronomy since she was a child.
“When I was a kid, I thought space was really cool and I liked looking at the stars, but it took me a while to find the area of astronomy that I liked,” said Gulledge. “Astronomy is very broad. You can study stars. You can study galaxies. But I really like studying planets. I’m a big advocate for humans exploring space further, and if we’re going to explore space, we need to study the planets. So that’s how I think I fell into specifically studying planetary science.”
Gulledge’s research involves gas giant planets, specifically Jupiter and Saturn. She is attempting to discover whether Jupiter and Saturn have solid cores or if, like the Sun, they are composed of gas. Gulledge is using seismology, a branch of science that deals with earthquakes and seismic waves.
“We’re not sure how the solar system formed yet and discovering if these planets have solid cores is a good way to answer that question,” Gulledge said. “We think they have solid cores, but there’s no direct evidence yet, so we’re using seismology to map out the internal structure.”
Gulledge said the first step in determining the structure of the cores of Jupiter and Saturn is to detect seismic waves of the planets. After they have detected the waves, they can measure them to determine the cores; however, Gulledge said there has been little progress in detecting the waves because of the sensitivity of the tools used to determine the measurements.
To solve this problem, Gulledge will join her advisor, Dr. Stuart Jefferies, in the South Pole to conduct more research on this topic. Dr. Jefferies, a 2CI hire in the Astroinformatics cluster, helped Georgia State to establish a South Pole observatory in collaboration with other scientists, institutions and agencies.
“Since it’s a really new field of research, there have only been a few people to research it,” she said. “Some people think that they’ve detected the waves, but they haven’t made any actual measurement yet because the instruments aren’t sensitive enough. So that’s what we’re hoping to do when we get to the South Pole.
“We think it exists to be measured,” Gulledge continued. “We just have to measure it.”
In addition to research, Gulledge plans on applying her research experience at the South Pole to another area to further her career. After she earns her Ph.D., she plans on applying to NASA’s Astronaut Corps, a program that selects and trains individuals to become astronauts for space missions. She hopes that her research experience at the South Pole will allow her to stand out among other candidates.
“I think this is a really good time to be doing it because there’s such a push to get back to the moon, with SpaceX and other private companies,” she said. “Getting into the program is really competitive, but I think that proving that I can work in an isolated place like the South Pole would be a great first step into getting into the astronaut corps.”
For students interested in pursuing a doctorate degree or fellowship, Gulledge had this advice: ask questions.
“Make sure you ask questions,” she said. “It took me a long time to realize that so many more opportunities would be available to me if I would’ve just asked for them instead of sitting to the side and waiting for them to just show up.”
— By Kiana Colquitt, Graduate Administrative Assistant for 2018-19, Office of the Provost
For questions about this story, please contact Jeremy Craig, Communications Manager for the Office of the Provost, at [email protected].