HI, I’M HILLARY.
Astrophysicist-in-Training at MIT | Science Communicator
GET IN TOUCH
At the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, I work in Professor Anna Frebel’s lab to study how ultra-faint dwarf galaxies form. They are the oldest and faintest galaxies in the cosmos—“cosmic fossils” giving us clues about what the early universe looked like.
To uncover how they formed, I use data from the Caterpillar computer simulations.
See more of my research experiences here ⭐
My personal mission is to get others as excited about science as I am! I do this through engaging public talks, social media posts, videos, and graphics.
During my gap year, I reached more than 5,000 people as I traveled around the Philippines almost every week doing talks on science. I was a speaker at the UN and Adobe EduMAX. I also collaborated with ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ largest media company, to create a science video.
See more of my scicomm work here 🔊

Projects
Science pilgrimage🌏I try to visit places of scientific significance and meet scientists all around the world whenever I can do so with the least expense possible.
Coursework 💻I publish notes, outputs, and resources from my classes here. I hope they help!
Reading list📚I own too many Audible credits and buy too many books (oops).
BLOG
Gravity Spy: You Can Help LIGO Discover Gravitational Waves
Last September 2015, LIGO had its first detection of gravitational waves from a pair of colliding black holes. As soon as the news broke, everyone was sharing the hype and elation of the LIGO...
Behind the Scenes: Breakthrough Junior Challenge 2017
If you’re one of my Facebook friends or if we share at least 20 mutuals, you’ve probably seen one of my ardent (and shameless) calls to like and share my entry to the 2016 Breakthrough Junior...