Sciences and Exploration Directorate

Olivia Harper Wilkins

(NPP FELLOW)

Olivia Harper Wilkins's Contact Card & Information.
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


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.

Research Interests


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]