Hailey Nelson

Hailey Nelson is a current Astrophysics PhD student at Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration. Her research uses stellar composition to predict the probability that a star hosts a habitable, Earth-like exoplanet, to inform future biosignature detection methods such as the Habitable Worlds Observatory. She graduated with a triple major from Arizona State University and Barrett The Honors College in Earth and Space Exploration (Astrophysics) (BS), Chemistry (BS), and French (BA). During her undergraduate studies, she created an informal education project to make engaging education more accessible to the public—a project she is continuing and evolving during her PhD studies to have a broader impact and reach new audiences. This involves studying the impact of different inquiry-based teaching methods on students' desire to do science. Hailey is also heavily involved in museum science and informal education at ASU, specifically with the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the School of Molecular Sciences, as well as with the Arizona Science Center. She works with NASA’s Mission to Psyche as an archivist, exhibit designer, and curator for the mission’s art initiative, Psyche Inspired.