Equity in Science

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are fundamental values for the Cool Star Lab, as we recognize the structural and cultural barriers that unnecessarily prevent some groups from exploring the Universe. We work with communities and experts to identify and address barriers to inclusion in academia and beyond, so that the best minds are available to solve cosmic mysteries.

Current Projects

STARTastro

With funding from the Heising Simons Foundation, we have started a community college transfer bridge program at UCSD and SDSU from Astrophysics and related majors called STARTastro. Based on the Transfer Receptive Culture Model, our program provides a fully-funded 8-week academic preparation and research summer experience, continuous mentoring throughout the academic year, professional development workshops, community building, and support for graduate applications.

The Indigenous Roots of Lick Observatory

Inspired by a 2020 senior thesis by MIT student Charlotte Minsky, and The National Academies' ASTRO2020 Decadal Survey call to develop a community-based science model for the field of Astronomy, we have convened a team of scientists, indigenous scholars, and community leaders to explore how to the indigenous roots of Lick Observatory, both past and present, can be reflected in its public outreach and research activities.

Antiracism in the Physical Sciences

Our team explores principles of antiracism and critical race theory in the practice and teaching of physical science, through research literature, first-person narratives, and critical discussion. We put our learning into practice through the development of workshops, seminars, and courses, such as the ASTR 60: Antiracism in the Physical Sciences course introduced in Spring 2025.

Recent Research & News

Adam Burgasser Participates in SASE Astrophysics Panel

(October 2025) Cool Star Lab PI Adam Burgasser participated in an Astrophysics Panel hosted by UCSD's Society of Asian Science and Engineers (SASE). Adam, faculty Brian Keating and Ethan Nadler, and postdoctoral scholar Julie Inglis shared their experiences on becoming astrophysicists, and how to pursue research opportunities in the field.

The Kumeyaay Night Sky

(August 2025) STARTastro scholar Ethan Baker and PI Adam Burgasser facilitated a star party in the Anza Borrego desert with students and community members of Kumeyaay Community College. The event was part of a teaching Kumeyaay cosmology course led by tribal elder Michael Connolly Miskwish, author of Maay Uuyow: Kumeyaay Cosmology. The dark moonless skies afforded beautiful views of the Milky Way (Hatotkeur); the constellations Scorpius (Shuluk), Cassiopaeia (Llykuushirra), and the Big Dipper (Shallymat); Mars and Saturn; and various star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Cool Star Lab Participates in Barrio Logan Science Art Festival

(April 2025) Current and former members of the Cool Star Lab participated in the 2025 Barrio Logan Science and Art Festival. Organized by the Barrio Logan Association, UCSD CREATE, and community partners, this festival highlights science, art and culture across San Diego communities. We participated as part of a table hosted by the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, which featured astronomy demonstrations (including an opportunity to "stare at the Sun", and students created a solar system that spanned the festival. Adam Burgasser was even featured in local news coverage of the event.

STARTastro opens for its second cohort

(February 2025) Applications are now open for the second cohort of the STARTastro program. STARTastro is a regional partnership between UC San Diego, San Diego State University, and Southern California's minority-serving community colleges that aims to support transfer student success for Astronomy and physical science majors through a Transfer Receptive Culture Model. STARTastro provides academic and research preparation during the summer, helping transfer students be ready to excel as upper division majors. The program is open to all public California Community College students who are transferring into a STEM major at UCSD, SDSU, or other UC/CSU programs. Hurry, applications close April 15 for CSU students and May 15 for UC students!

UCSD Hosts CU*IP 2025

(January 2025) UCSD was one of 15 hosts sites for this year's Conferences for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*IP), organized nationally by the American Physical Society (APS). Co-organized by the Departments of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics, with co-Chairs Javier Duarte, Tongyan Lin, Adam Burgasser, and Robin Glefke, CU*IP@UCSD brought nearly 200 students from the southwest US, Hawaii, and (for the first time!) Mexico to a weekend of plenary talks (including one of UCSD's newest faculty members Floor Broekgaarden), workshops, and poster presentations. Cool Star Lab members Adam Burgasser and Sara Morrissey (who serves as Vice-President of UCSD's Society of Physics Students chapter) both helped to organize the meeting; Adam led two panels on Physics and Academia and served on an Education panel; and Sara, Madison Fierro, and Marylin Loritsch each presented posters at the conference. Marylin's poster received a conference prize for best poster on Stars and Stellar Populations! Congratulations to the conference team and the research presenters!

You can see all the conference posters, including those by Sara, Madison, and Marylin, at the conference poster webpage.

STEM Outreach in Hawaii

(November 2024) Emma Softich had the privilege of participating in the Girls Exploring Math and Science (GEMS), an outreach program associated with Keck Observatories. The November event included 16 workshops for over 150 5th-grade girls from the western part of the Big Island of Hawai'i. Emma helped present an exhibit on Infrared Astronomy which featured an interactive infrared camera, and shared the usefulness of infrared light when it comes to looking through dust - or trash bags! Emma really enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the students and help inspire the next generation of women in STEM.

Engaging with Native American Heritage Month

(November 2024) CSL faculty Adam Burgasser and Chris Theissen organized a departmental table for UCSD's Native American Heritage Month (NAHM) annual luncheon. This is the kickoff event to a month of workshops, presentations, and celebrations on the continued contributions of indigenous people to the greater San Diego community. This year's speaker, Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy (Hupa, Karuk, and Yurok) spoke on Indigenous feminism, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and decolonization.

Science for Southeast San Diego

(August 2024) Members of the Cool Star Lab participated in the UCSD Astronomy & Astrophysics booth at the 4th Southeast Art & Science Expo at Malcolm X library in San Diego. This community event engages people of all ages in science, art, technology and exploration. Our booth featured demonstrations on optics, representations of the electromagnetic spectrum, tactile "images" of cosmic sources, and an opportunity to see the sunspots on our currently highly active Sun.

STARTastro Starts!

(July 2024) The first STARTastro scholars have begun their summer program at UCSD! STARTastro, funded by the Heising Simons Foundation, is led by Adam Burgasser and Karin Sandstrom at UCSD, and Kate Rubin at SDSU, and aims to support community college transfer students bridge into their UC astronomy/physics/etc. majors. The STARTastro scholars hail from 6 CCs in San Diego, Orange, and LA counties, and will embark on an 8-week program of academic and professional development and research.

CERIC Workshops for Cal-Bridge

(Jan 2024) Cool Star Lab members participated in the Southern California Workshop for Cal-Bridge Scholars, hosted at UCSD. In addition to running lab tours for visiting Scholars, Genevive Bjorn & Adam Burgasser led a 3-hour workshop on the CERIC method for reading the primary literature.

UCSD at CUWIP 2024

(Jan 2024) Members of the UCSD Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics community participated in the 2024 CUWIP conference, hosted regionally by the University of San Diego. Faculty and students participated in discussion panels, workshops, and graduate program information sessions. UCSD is gearing up to host the 2025 CU*IP conference in January 2025!

Honoring the Hōkūleʻa

(Nov 2023) Adam Burgasser joined UCSD community members to share lunch with members of the crew of the Hōkūleʻa, an event hosted by the Birch Aquarium and the Polynesian Voyaging Society. This famous Polynesian traditional voyaging vessel, or wa'a, was ending its first leg of the Moananuiākea voyage before going back to Hawai'i.

Cool Star Lab eclipse outreach on a cruise ship

(Oct 2023): Cool Star Lab members Bretton Simpson, Joman Wong, and Adam Burgasser led an outreach event on the Holland America cruise ship Volendam, introducing 6th grade students from the Perkins school in Barrio Logan to the upcoming October 14th annular solar eclipse. The students go to "stare at the Sun" through eclipse glasses and their own homemade solar pinhole projection box [see the news coverage on CBS8]

Cool Star Lab Partners with Native Like Water

(July 2023): Cool Star Lab members organized a pair of outreach events with the Native Like Water program, demonstrating physics concepts at UCSD and holding a star party at the La Jolla Indian Reservation Campground. Native Like Water curates experiences through an Indigenous lens, focusing on conservation and cultural practice.

Adam Burgasser earns Division EDI Award

(May 2023): Adam Burgasser was a recipient of the 2023 UCSD School of Physical Science EDI Excellence Award, for his work on developing antiracism seminars and pedagogy in Physics and Astronomy. (read more...)

ARMS-BSP Symposium feature Prof. Charles Brown II

(May 2023): Cool Star Lab members of the Advocating for and Representing Minority Students (ARMS) group co-hosted the second ARMS-BSP symposium with the UCSD Black Studies Project, featuring experimental quantum physicist and #BlackInPhysics co-founder Prof. Charles Brown II

First ARMS-BSP Symposium

(May 2023): Cool Star Lab members Delilah Jacobsen and Natalie Lam were among several student leaders from the Advocating for and Representing Minority Students (ARMS) group to co-host with the UCSD Black Studies Project the first ARMS-BSP symposium, featuring astronomer and artist Prof. Nia Imara (read more...)

Christian Aganze recieves honorable mention for Bouchet Society

(Jan 2023): Christian Aganze was selected as an honorable mention for the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, co-founded in 2005 by Yale and Howard Universities and named for Edward Alexander Bouchet, the first African American doctoral recipient in the United States. Congratulations Christian!

SACNAS 2022

(Oct 2022): Adam Burgasser represented UC San Diego and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) at the 2022 SACNAS meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition to staffing booths for both organizations, Adam participated in a session on Puerto Rican astronomy organized by the AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (learn more...)

Cool Star Lab at the Southeast Science & Art Expo

(Aug 2022): Cool Star Lab team members participated in the 2022 Southeast Science and Art Expo at the Malcolm X Library, where they led demonstrations in physics phenomena and made a to-scale model of the Solar System along the Library parking lot (learn more...)

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