Rekha Jain - solar guides

Where do you work?
I now work at Sheffield University, but I used to work in Manchester. After studying physics and maths at university, I decided to do research in astronomy and I was lucky to get a place at a prestigious institute in India, doing just that - I started observing stars and galaxies.

What do you study?
My work concerns the Sun, its oscillations and other projects. I have always been interested in travelling to far-away places and it was while sitting in the library one day that I thought that it would be a good idea to go abroad (from India) to study. The next thing I remember is looking at an advertisement in the 'New Scientist' (for a job in solar physics) and believe it or not, it caught my eye because I could not find St. Andrews on the UK map!

Of course, then I immediately wanted to go to St. Andrews, Scotland for my next adventure.

So there I was, in Scotland (thankfully, in the summer). Since then I spent two years working in solar physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder (another beautiful place to study, but cold in winter). For the last few years, I have been based in England.

The Flatirons in Boulder, Colorado.

What else do I do?

Here is a picture of me dancing! No, I am joking. Seriously though, I love dancing especially Indian and Scottish country dancing.   However my biggest passion is my two young children.

Do you travel a lot?

I like to visit various countries and learn about different cultures and traditions. Nobody says it is easy for a young woman coming from India who wants to travel to distant places. But I am a pretty determined person and I love doing unusual things. If I can do what I wanted to, you sure can too!

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