Dr. Alicia Aarnio is an astrophysicist and Assistant Professor at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She graduated from Smith College, a women’s college, in 2005 double majoring in astronomy and physics. She then attended Vanderbilt where she earned her Ph.D. in Physics in 2010, a year in which only 20% of Physics PhDs were conferred to women. Since beginning with a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project, Dr. Aarnio has been in the field for 19 years, and when not teaching and conducting research, she loves to make, repair, and grow things.