Giannina Guzman Caloca

I was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I obtained my B.S. in Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences with minors in Physics and Communications on May 2019 from Villanova Univsersity. I worked at GSFC Summer of 2018 as part at the Undegraduate Research Associate in Astrobiology program and in the year 2019-2020 as a post-bac. I obtained my Masters in Astronomy from University of Maryland and I'm currently a PhD candidate at University of Maryland Department of Astronomy doing research at GSFC.

Teacher's Assistant at Villanova University

Assisted professors in grading, and in-class help to the students. Deals with grading matters personally. Had to come up with effective and consistent grading system unless specified otherwise by the professor.

Teacher's Assistant at University of Maryland

Taught 50 minute discussion sections, led 3 hour labs, and graded

ASTR 101- “Introduction to Astronomy”

ASTR 220- “Collisions in Space– The Threat of Asteroid Impacts”

Jason A. Cardelli Memorial Award for Undergraduate Research (Spring 2019)
• “The Jason A. Cardelli Memorial Award for Undergraduate Research is presented to a graduating Astronomy & Astrophysics major whose body of undergraduate research work exhibits particularly high standards of independence, originality, and quality.” (Villanova University Website) A prestigious award given by the department to deserving graduating seniors.

First place in Villanova's 2018 Sigma Xi CRF Poster Symposium (Spring 2018)
• Best poster award in the category of: Undergraduate, for the Astronomy & Astrophysics, Physics, Computing Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics category by the Sigma Xi Villanova chapter. Poster Title: The Red Thumbs: A Study in Plant Growth on Martian Regolith Simulant​

There are other things outside of my academic skills that I believe set me apart from others. I took time to obtain a Communications minor because I believe the skills one learns from courses in this field are crucial to a scientist that is interested in doing outreach in the future. I have already actively participated in outreach, volunteering every Friday for a year in the Villanova club called All Hands-on Science. This club is dedicated to attending after-school boys and girls clubs in underrepresented communities around Philadelphia to perform hands-on experiments with kids ranging from 5th to 10th grade. The focus of the volunteer work is to bring excitement for the sciences to underprivileged communities, and to provide advice and direction in order to show that the sciences is not an unachievable career path for them. This opportunity solidified my intent to do outreach throughout my career. I also held leadership positions in two different clubs. I was the Villanova Astronomical Society (VAS) treasurer for a year. VAS is a campus club dedicated to providing opportunities, trips, and a community to students interested in amateur astronomy. For two years, I also acted as Public Relations Chair of The Superlative, an all-styles dance team at Villanova that prides itself on its true diversity of culture and dance forms to create a blend of styles that is unique in the campus. In this dance team, not only did I function as an officer, but I also was an active choreographer and dancer the three years I was part of the team. I believe these leadership and volunteering experiences have endowed me with a unique set of abilities.