Dr. Olivia Harper Wilkins (she/her) is an astrochemist and artist currently working as a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow in the Astrochemistry Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. At Goddard, she works on the Sublimation Laboratory Ice Millimeter/submillimeter Experiment (SubLIME) to study the chemistry of UV-irradiated ice analogues. Before coming to NASA as an NPP Fellow, Dr. Wilkins earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Caltech, where she did observational astrochemistry related to the Orion Kleinmann-Low (Orion KL) nebula using high-angular-resolution mapping of methanol using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Dr. Wilkins also wrote and illustrated Astrochemistry, which was published in 2021, for the American Chemical Society (ACS) In Focus series.
Olivia Harper Wilkins
(NPP FELLOW)
| Email: | olivia.h.wilkins@nasa.gov |
| Phone: | 301.286.1789 |
| Org Code: | 691 |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 691 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY |
Brief Bio
Current Projects
Sublimation Laboratory Ice Millimeter/submillimeter Experiment (SubLIME)
Astrochemistry
Education
Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2021, Caltech, Pasadena CA 91125
B.S. (Magna Cum Laude) in Chemistry (with Honors) and Mathematics, 2015, Dickinson College, Carlisle PA 17013
Professional Societies
American Astronomical Society
Member
2020 - Present
American Chemical Society
Member
2013 - Present
Royal Society of Chemistry
Associate Member (AMRSC)
2023 - Present
Royal Astronomical Society
Fellow (FRAS)
2019 - Present
Awards
2022, AGU/SciAct Afilliate Program
2022, CAS Future Leaders Program
2022, NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellowship
2020-2021, National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Student Observing Support (SOS) Award
2016-2021, National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship
2019-2021, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship
2018-2019, Kanel Foundation Scholarship
2015-2016, Fulbright Research Fellowship to Germany
Publications
Refereed
2023. "Gas-phase Ortho-to-para Ratio of Formaldehyde Formed at Low Temperatures in Laboratory Ices." The Astrophysical Journal Letters 958 (2): L41 [10.3847/2041-8213/ad0bee] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "New Interstellar Laboratories in the Molecular Ring." Faraday Discussions [10.1039/d3fd00003f] [Journal Article/Letter]
2022. "Mapping Physical Parameters in Orion KL at High Spatial Resolution." The Astrophysical Journal 924 (1): 4 [10.3847/1538-4357/ac3132] [Journal Article/Letter]
2021. "Astrochemistry." ACS In Focus [10.1021/acsinfocus.7e5004] [Book]
2018. "Rotational spectroscopy of the two conformers of 3-methylbutyronitrile (C4H9CN) between 2 and 400 GHz." Astronomy & Astrophysics 615 A140 [10.1051/0004-6361/201832994] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Laboratory spectroscopic study and astronomical detection of vibrationally excitedn-propyl cyanide." Astronomy & Astrophysics 595 A87 [10.1051/0004-6361/201629309] [Journal Article/Letter]
2016. "Carbon Chains and Methanol Toward Embedded Protostars." The Astrophysical Journal 819 (2): 140 [10.3847/0004-637x/819/2/140] [Journal Article/Letter]