2024 WGAP Mentors

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Anaely Pacheco Blanco

Anaely Pacheco Blanco is a science communicator, especially of astrophysics. She holds a bachelor degree in Physics from the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) and a science master degree specialized in astrophysics from the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE). She is interested in promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in the STEM areas and the protection of the dark sky as a common heritage. She is part of the international network “Astronomía Inclusiva” and the darksky advocates of Dark Sky International. She is coauthor of a story (in a bilingual publication in Spanish and Tseltal, an indigenous language spoken in Chiapas, Mexico) that uses appropriate cultural analogies to convey the science behind the origin of the Universe. She was part of the first cohort of the WGAP with the first stage of the project enSEÑAme astronomía, a series of astronomical workshops for the deaf community.

Betsy Hernandez

Betsy Hernandez is a first-generation Dominican American. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Hunter College. She is the STEM Educator at The Brotherhood Sister Sol’s after-school program, where she teaches coding, and uses Lego sets to teach robotics and engineering to kids ages 8 to 18. Betsy also enjoys participating in Astronomy outreach, where she shares her passion for the universe with audiences of various ages and backgrounds.

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Shaniya Jarrett

Shaniya Jarrett grew up in Colorado where she received her BA in Astrophysics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. After graduating, she spent two years in the aerospace industry as a Satellite Test Engineer with General Atomics. She is currently finishing her Master’s in Physics within the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-PhD Bridge program studying binary black hole mergers and large-scale structure. In fall of 2024, she will join the University of Maryland’s PhD program in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Her research interests are in cosmology, gravitational waves, and machine learning. Outside of academia, she enjoys playing volleyball, piano, video games, and taking care of her pet rats.

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Ava Polzin

Ava Polzin is a PhD candidate in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, where she works to understand star formation and the baryon cycle in low mass, low metallicity galaxies. Outside of research, she is strongly committed to equity in scientific research and education, engaging students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds in STEM through her SIRIUS B program (siriusb.org), and serving as a Senior Graduate Fellow of the Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning, where she instructs other early career scholars on pedagogy. Her 2023 WGAP project, VERGE: Virtual Events for Remote Gathering and Engagement, piloted delivering culturally relevant STEM education remotely for Indigenous girls, expanding access to SIRIUS B’s programming for girls in rural or remote locations.