Laura Danly
Griffith Observatory
Los Angeles, CA USA
"Every day of your life, you have the right to choose what you will accept and what you won't accept. And that's the craft and art of making your own life."
Career Roadmap
Laura's work combines: Environment & Nature, Science, and Learning / Being Challenged
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Physics, General
Yale University
Doctorate
Astronomy
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
For as long as she can remember, she wanted to study space; studied physics and got a Ph.D. in astronomy.
2.
Worked as a postdoc at NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute.
3.
Says that as a young female scientist, she often felt invisible, and she felt a lot of self-doubt.
4.
But time and time again, her grades would best the boys in her classes, so she slowly gained confidence.
5.
Took a huge leap leaving NASA-working for them had always been her dream, but she'd stagnated there.
6.
Quit and spent some time traveling around India and Nepal; taking this break gave her more clarity about what she wanted to do with her life.
7.
Says she's "restarted" her life half a dozen times; urges road-trippers to make changes if they reach a place where they're unhappy.
8.
Believes that if you're scared about taking a big leap, you usually just need to take a deep breath and "jump out of the plane."
Defining Moments
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
The main feeling I had as a woman in science was invisibility