Kate Futrowsky

Kate Futrowsky

Physics PhD Student at Georgia Tech

These are a few of my favorite things…

Although black holes dominate my scientific interests, I enjoy many things, academic and otherwise, too! This page describes just a few.

Science Policy

I’ve been interested in science policy almost as long as I have been interested in astronomy. Working in the field seems to be a way that I can apply my love and knowledge of science to topics that may impact humanity beyond fostering our curiosity, such as nuclear nonproliferation and clean energy, among others.

Katie in front of the U.S. Capitol building
Posing in front of the Capitol dome during my Summer 2022 internship.

In Summer 2022, I worked as an AIP Mather Public Policy intern in the Office of Representative Bill Foster - a physicist himself! Working on Capitol Hill was a wonderful experience, and I see myself returning someday. For the time being, I plan on obtaining a certificate or master’s degree in public policy during my time at Georgia Tech and am always looking for new opportunities to get involved in science policy.

Silly Looking Animals

Among my greatest joys in life is the existence of creatures that baffle me. I often wonder how evolution created such silly animals, including some I have encountered pictured below!

A puffer fish.

A Tamarin monkey.

Fritz, the baby hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Plants

I have made it my goal to live in an urban jungle and am well on my way to succeeding. I love plants, and hope to travel to see the houseplants that I love in their native environments. While working in DC, I had the chance to visit the U.S. Botanic Garden and see its corpse flower in full bloom, pictured below.

A corpse flower in full bloom at the U.S. Botanic Garden.
A corpse flower in full bloom at the U.S. Botanic Garden.

The flower was indeed very stinky.

Astrophotography

Since I was able to get my hands on a decent DSLR, I have done some astrophotography, mostly from my yard, but also from the Grand Canyon during a family vacation there in 2017. I was able to capture the Milky Way, both on camera and with my naked eye; it was quite an awe-inspiring experience.

A photo of the Milky Way.
A photo of the Milky Way that I took with my Canon Rebel at the Grand Canyon during their star party week in Summer 2017.

Art

I love to make (sometimes half-ok) art using a bunch of different mediums. I painted my undergrad graduation cap (pictured below) to resemble Gargantua, the (as we now know from the EHT images, not too too accurate) supermassive black hole that stars in Interstellar. I enjoy many a paint-by-number and doodling.

Katie in her graduation cap.
Me, in my graduation gear, bidding farewell to the University of Maryland Department of Astronomy.