This week’s interview is with Abiy Tekola.
Jessica Barton: What is your job title?
Abiy Tekola: It is a post-doctoral fellow.
JB: What does your work at LCOGT involve?
AT: My work involves both science and education. My science work focuses mainly on extragalactic astronomy especially on the relationship between galaxy environment and their star formation properties. My education work focuses on taking astronomy to the general public.
JB: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself - your education, interests, past work experiences.
AT: I am originally from a small town called Debrezeit in central Ethiopia. This is the place where I did my primary and high school education. I then moved to another small town called Alemaya and did my undergraduate degree in Physics and maths at Alemaya University. I finally moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 2005 and started my Masters and continued to my PhD at the University of Cape Town and graduated in December 2011. I like soccer and I usually watch at least one game every weekend. I am also a great fan of art in general though I do not do any myself.
JB: What led you to the career/job you are doing now?
AT: I have had a strong interest in astronomy ever since I was a kid though opportunities to expose myself to it were very limited. I think the desire to know more about the field led me to where I am.
JB: What is a typical day at work like?
AT: Usually my day starts very early. The first thing I do when I get to office is check email and then depending on the day I might be doing either my science work or education related stuff. In a typical science workday, I analyze data and do some programing that help me in data analysis. Writing and reading research papers are also part of my science work. In a typical education workday, I do planning of the different activities that I need to do, visiting schools and speaking to students about astronomy. Some of my days could also be a combination of both science and education workdays.
JB: What advice would you offer people wanting to go into the type of work you do?
AT: Listen to your hearts and make sure that astronomy is indeed what you want to do for the rest of your life. Once you decide, you should always remember that hard work and patience are important because the path to a full-fledged astronomy career is really long and at times challenging.
JB: Thanks Abiy!