Dr. Wanda Díaz-Merced
As we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, our innovative attention turns to a Puerto-Rican born female astronomer who can’t see the stars, but can listen to them. Blind since her early twenties, Wanda Díaz-Merced studies the light emitted by gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic events in the universe. When she lost her sight and was left without a way to do her science, realized that the light curves she could no longer see could be translated into sound. Through sonification, she regained mastery over her work, and now she’s advocating for a more inclusive scientific community.
