Researcher Star

by Jeremy Gerlach

Star physics researcher Madison (Maddy) Reich ’24 has been named a 2023 Goldwater Scholar. One of about 400 winners nationwide selected from a pool of over 5,000 nominated college sophomores and juniors, this rising Trinity senior’s passion for calculation has brought her one step closer to pursuing a doctorate in astrophysics.

“This award is something that I’m proud of, and it’s something that I [think will] bring a little bit of pride to Trinity, too,” she says.

After graduating, Maddy has her telescope set on conducting research as a high-energy observational astronomer and wants to one day teach courses at the university level.

As a prospective student, Maddy was intrigued about Trinity as a place where smaller class sizes mean better connections with classmates and faculty and where STEM fields aren’t segmented away from other disciplines.

“At Trinity, students are making study groups, and we’re actually able to make partnerships with professors,” she says.

Maddy says she’s most enjoyed working with her research adviser, physics professor David Pooley, Ph.D., who ended up encouraging her to apply for the Goldwater Scholarship.

“I’ve always been looking for ways to use math that’s not in a math class,” Maddy says. “That’s why I liked physics because it was the most ‘math-applied’ science I could find. I love that challenge of being able to sit down and work at a problem for a while.”

Throughout her time conducting research, Maddy says she’s been pleased to discover that her career field is full of other energetic people who care about having fun with physics just as much as she does.

“For the research I did at Trinity in Summer 2022, after I’d learned the ropes, I went to a national astronomy conference in Seattle, which was really cool,” she says. “The conference was huge, but all of the people that I met were so kind and so encouraging of young people getting into the field. I realized how diverse this field is. I wasn’t the only woman in the room, which was nice to see, too.”

Outside physics, Maddy has also enjoyed a series of literature classes with modern languages and literatures professor Heather Sullivan, Ph.D. “I really like her teaching style, so I followed her into her comparative literature course on German fairy tales, which was really fun,” Maddy says.

And where Maddy goes, STEM is never truly far behind.

“There were certain aspects in my fairy tales class where I looked at things from a physicist’s point of view, just being kind of scrutinous in the way that you look at things,” Maddy explains. “I somehow managed to integrate physics into a fairy tales paper, which critiqued the way that we formulate fairy tales.”

Even with her busy schedule, Maddy also finds time to play the flute in the University’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble as one of countless Trinity musicians who are able to perform without having to commit to being music majors.

“It’s pretty great because there really is a significant percentage of physics majors that are in bands, so it’s nice to have those friends,” Maddy says. “Music is a fun outlet to just go play for a little bit.”

This past summer, Maddy conducted research on hidden black holes at the Maria Mitchell Observatory in Nantucket, Massachusetts, as part of the 10-week National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Internship in Astronomy.

“It was incredible to have access to a range of telescopes of different ages and sizes,” Maddy says. “A typical astronomer nowadays just has access to observational data on their computer. So, having the chance to physically move a telescope dating back to 1908 is an increasingly rare experience.”

This fall, Maddy is connecting with Professor Pooley on a subject that blends her stargazing with her love of math: “I’m finally taking astrophysics,” Maddy says. “It’s all of the topics that I’ve been hearing about in snippets, but now I get to actually sit down and learn it.”

For Maddy, there couldn’t be a better way to close out her time at Trinity. “It’s gonna be good,” she says.