When she was a kid, Vivian Miranda collected newspaper articles about astronomy. “My dream was to work at NASA.”
At 33 years-old, the physicist finally realized her dream. She now works with the famous space American agency, in the WFIRST space telescope project. She is also a researcher at the University of Arizona in the United States.
As if that weren’t enough, her research in cosmology led Vivian to become the first Brazilian to receive the Leona Woods Award, which recognizes the success of female scientists, underrepresented groups and LGBTQ in the field of physics.
Awarded twice a year since 2017 by the Physics Department of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BLN), located in New York, it aims to foster diversity in the field.
The prize, announced at the end of April, includes a cash bonus of $1,000 (R$ 3,970) and the opportunity to present at two conferences to BLN members.
Scientists working on cosmology study basic characteristics of the Universe, such as their age, composition, size, and formation, explains Vivian.
"It was through astronomy that I became interested in physics. The dream of doing astronomy and the dream of adjusting my genre were born at about the same time, even in childhood," he says. "However, while I was proud of one of those dreams, astronomy, I felt ashamed of the other. I suffered a lot from my own prejudice and only succeeded in overcoming it when I met wonderful examples of transsexual people at the American Academy on the internet."
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon