Kim Weaver - Biography
I am currently an astronomer and adjunct professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. I grew up in Morgantown, WV and received my undergraduate degree in physics from West Virginia University. I began studying astronomy at the University of Maryland at College Park, MD and finally discovered the exciting world of x-ray astronomy as a graduate student while working summers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. I received my doctorate degree from the University of Maryland in 1993 and in 1996, I won a NASA Presidential Early Career Award to pursue my scientific research in x-ray astronomy.
I chose to work in the field of x-ray astronomy because of the thrill and excitement of the new ways of looking at our universe that are available to today's astronomers. X-rays were discovered a mere 110 years ago and it has only been 40 years since we developed the technology to send x-ray telescopes into space. I have always wanted to understand more about how our universe works and I especially enjoy communicating this information to others. We cannot see x-rays with our eyes, but by using today's x-ray telescopes, astronomers are learning more than they ever dreamed about space, time and our universe.