Title: Physics on Pointe - Merritt Moore - Taplin Auditorium (original) (raw)

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Abstract: Merritt Moore will discuss her journey as a physicist and professional ballet dancer. She will discuss why studying physics made her a better dancer, with a career spanning across the Zurich Ballet, Boston Ballet, English National Ballet, and Norwegian National Ballet, and why being a ballerina helped her graduate with a degree in physics from Harvard and with a PhD in Atomic and Laser Physics from Oxford.

Merritt was awarded Forbes 30 under 30 and featured in "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls" Vol 2. She was one of the 12 selected astronaut candidates, out of thousands of applicants, to undergo rigorous astronaut selection on BBC Two "Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?", and she continues to pursue the dream of becoming an astronaut, while pursuing a professional ballet and physics career. She will readily discuss all the "failures" and lessons she has learned along the way, share insights into the Quantum Optics research she pursued at Oxford, and perform a physics inspired piece.