Overview
Marika Edwards is a GEM Fellow at the University of Florida working towards her PhD in Astronomy and Advanced Manufacturing Engineering. Her research includes galaxy evolution, instrumentation, cosmology and dark matter/energy. Marika earned her B.A. in Computer Science and Theatre Production/Engineering at DePauw University and her B.S. in Physics/Astronomy and Mechanical Engineering at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
A lifetime member of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), Marika has served on the executive boards and founded student chapters of multiple organizations, including BlackinPhysics Week, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). In these roles, Marika was a champion of academic excellence, school/life balance and community service and outreach in her universities and local area. As she was often the only POC, woman, parent, and/or returning adult student in her physics courses throughout her academic career, Marika took action to support any and all students with similar affairs interested in the pursuit of Physics and other STEM fields. Marika regularly gives science talks to elementary through high school classrooms, supporting local teachers and students.
Twitter: @tangela_irene
LinkedIn: marikaerin
Education
- B.Sc., Physics with an Astronomy Emphasis and Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, 2019
- B.A., Computer Science and Theatre Production, DePauw University, 2011
Research
Marika’s technical background has allowed her to participate in various projects, including the search for primordial black holes as a candidate for dark matter with Fermi National Laboratory and the Dark Energy Survey; manufacturing and testing hybrid electric vehicles and aerospace components at UTC Aerospace Systems; and developing an algorithm to detect abnormalities in the cells of mice at the University of Florida. Currently, she works with a collaboration of astrophysicists specializing in metallicity, probing big data simulations of the universe, mapping out the changes of the galaxies’ composition -and therefore the universe’s composition - over time. Marika’s focus is synthesizing the simulation with our real universe, using a combination of programming/data analysis and instrumentation.
Areas of Study
- Galaxy Evolution
- Instrumentation
- Cosmology