Gates Cambridge scholar reaching for the stars

By Lethbridge Herald on May 5, 2022.

University of Lethbridge photo University of Lethbridge graduate student Alicia Anderson, seen here with physics and astronomy professor David Naylor, has been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

Alicia Anderson, who completed her Bachelor of Science with great distinction in 2020 and just recently successfully defended her master’s thesis, has now earned another honour in academia. Anderson has been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which will see her study her PhD at Trinity College on the grounds of the United Kingdom’s University of Cambridge beginning this fall.
  “It’s a major success,” said David Naylor, physics and astronomy professor, Board of Governors’ Research Chair and head of the Astronomical Instrumentation Group (AIG) at the University of Lethbridge. “This is about flat-out excellence. You basically have the best talent on the planet going after this award and she won it.”
 The scholarship was established in 2000 with a $210-million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support graduate students’ study. Since it began, Gates Cambridge has awarded 2,081 scholarships to scholars from 111 countries who represent more than 600 universities globally, and more than 80 academic departments and all 31 colleges at Cambridge.
 Anderson is one of 79 new Gates Cambridge Scholars from 30 countries, including just two other Canadians. Over the 22-year history of the award, just one other Canadian physicist has earned a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, while three others have studied astronomy.
 “As a 17-year-old, when I first came to the University of Lethbridge, I hadn’t really planned on any of this,” said Anderson, “You start by making connections with professors and I’ve been lucky to have really passionate professors teaching me undergraduate physics and inspiring me to join a research group and take it to the next level. I really owe it all to my department and all the professors who have taught me.”
 Anderson turned her focus to space and the AIG group in her third year of studies. Upon earning her undergraduate degree, Anderson enrolled as a master’s student and worked on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), a far infrared space observatory scheduled to launch in 2030. Unfortunately, midway through her master’s work, the ESA chose not to pursue SPICA and the global pandemic hit.
 “It was tough for her because her entire thesis was under the umbrella of a pandemic,” said Naylor, “She wasn’t able to travel to conferences and make the connections you normally do as a graduate student. So, when I could see that SPICA was no longer an option, I promised we’d get her a position for her PhD.”
 Anderson’s research has been supported by industrial partner Blue Sky Spectroscopy Inc. with an amount of $1.1 million. With Blue Sky’s support, Naylor was able to send Anderson to Cambridge to work with one of his colleagues, professor Stafford Withington. As head of the Quantum Sensors Group, Withington is a world-leading physicist. Anderson not only impressed Withington over the course of her six-week stay, but she also learned something about herself as well.
 “I had this image of Cambridge in my mind where it was this place I could never fit into because I was used to such a small university,” said Anderson, “But being there for six weeks, I felt right at home. It was a research lab, just like I’d worked at in Lethbridge for five years.”
 Word got out that Anderson was seeking a PhD position, and interested schools lined up. McGill, the University of British Columbia and others made offers but she applied for the Gates Scholarship.
 “When I interviewed with my supervisor, who had won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019, he told me I was one of the best-prepared students he’d ever seen and that my background was the highest calibre of any of the applications this year,” said Anderson, “It just speaks to the training and the incredible projects I’d worked on with David and Blue Sky and how it had prepared me for this.”
 Anderson will head to Cambridge in October to work in the exoplanet research centre where she will focus her attention on planets that exist outside our solar system but orbit around other stars within the Milky Way Galaxy.
 “The newest technology in exoplanet astronomy will allow astronomers to observe Earth-like planets that are orbiting around stars like our sun. The ultimate goal is to identify potentially habitable exoplanets,” says Anderson, “Ground-based observatories, like the one I will work on in my PhD, will locate these exoplanets so that future missions can follow up and study them in more detail.”
 According to Naylor, to see Anderson destined for the Cambridge program is gratifying on many levels.
 “Life is a series of lessons learned and our role as educators is to help students climb the knowledge ladder,” said Naylor, “In my own case, I had a physics teacher at grammar school who had a major impact on my career path. Over the last 41 years at the University, I have mentored dozens of students – seven are now professors, three hold research chairs, four others work at various space agencies and another built the motor that operates the drill on NASA’s Insight lander that sits on the surface of Mars. While [Anderson] is the latest member of our family, and I will take great pride in seeing where she goes and visiting her while she’s at Trinity, I’m proud of them all.”

Comments are closed.