{"66522":{"#nid":"66522","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Professor Aims to Dispel Astrophysics Myths","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDeirdre Shoemaker has become accustomed to people not believing in black holes \u2014 even one of her stepson\u2019s teachers.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen he was in elementary school, my stepson came home with an English writing assignment on myths,\u201d said the astrophysicist who is an associate professor in the School of Physics and works within the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics. \u201cHis topic choices included Big Foot, the Loch Ness monster and black holes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother common misconception that Shoemaker has encountered is that black holes are giant, cosmic vacuum cleaners that will suck everything in.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFortunately, they\u2019re not,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we replaced our sun with a black hole of the same mass, Earth wouldn\u2019t be sucked into it. However, the lack of sunlight would be a problem.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShoemaker has worked in her field for about 15 years, since she was a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin. As an astrophysicist, she considers herself to be a \u201cdetective of the universe.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are using clues and evidence to determine what the universe is and how and why it looks like it does to us today,\u201d she added. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, The Whistle sat down with Shoemaker to learn more about her and her time at Tech. Here\u2019s what we learned:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you get to Tech? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI was an assistant professor at The Pennsylvania State University for four years before being asked to apply to Georgia Tech. I was hired as part of an effort to initiate a research and teaching group dedicated to astrophysics, which evolved into the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us about your research.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI use computational techniques to solve the equations that govern how two black holes interact with each other. The byproduct of that interaction is called \u201cgravitational radiation.\u201d Gravitational radiation is a kind of radiation predicted by Einstein\u2019s theory of gravity, but it has not been directly detected (we are used to electromagnetic waves like light and microwaves).\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your greatest challenge associated with teaching and how do you deal with it?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen I teach large introductory classes, the challenge is to maintain a persona that is respected and approachable. My personality, which is quite friendly, is a plus and a minus for this. I think it helps me be an approachable instructor and encourages students to ask questions in class, but I also have to maintain a balance in and out of the classroom. I think the balance comes from demanding that the students respect each other and me. Little things help accomplish this such as not allowing talking in the room when one person is speaking.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are three things that are key to making learning more engaging for students? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHumor, patience and research. I think a sense of humor is essential in teaching, second only to having the patience to let students ask questions in their own time and words. These two things help create a classroom atmosphere where a student can feel comfortable. I also try to bring up relevant, current research as often as possible so students can get a feeling for why we find physics so interesting and why it is important to society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat piece of technology could you not live without as an instructor?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Internet, because it allows me to research how others teach material similar to my own.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are three things everyone should do while working at Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERun the annual Pi Mile 5K, slide down that crazy water slide at the Campus Recreation Center and attend a commencement ceremony.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is the best place to grab lunch (on or off campus), and what do you order? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI love to order soup at La Petite Caf\u00e9.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell me something unusual about yourself.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMy family and I have two Great Danes \u2014 they pretty much run the household, but they are gentle dictators.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDeirdre Shoemaker has become accustomed to people not believing in black holes \u2014 even one of her stepson\u2019s teachers.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Deirdre Shoemaker has become accustomed to people not believing in black holes \u2014 even one of her stepson\u2019s teachers."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2011-06-14 12:32:20","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:53","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-06-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-06-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"66510":{"id":"66510","type":"image","title":"Deirdre Shoemaker","body":null,"created":"1449177176","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:12:56","changed":"1475894592","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:12","alt":"Deirdre Shoemaker","file":{"fid":"193316","name":"deirdre.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/deirdre_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/deirdre_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":712852,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/deirdre_0.jpg?itok=Btb514OT"}}},"media_ids":["66510"],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13413","name":"Center for Relative Astrophysics"},{"id":"13402","name":"Deirdre Shoemaker"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}