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Saeqa Vrtilek, Senior Astrophysicist, Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA
 "I enjoy attending the AAAS annual meetings for a variety of reasons.
Above all they allow me to interact with eminent scientists in my
field as well as anthropologists, mathematicians, biologists, and
engineers, to name but four of the 24 sections of the AAAS.
I have
recently attended sessions ranging from the latest results in my
field, e.g., "Understanding Dark Energy" and "Exploring New Worlds
with Cassini-Huygens" to intriguing sessions on "Himalayan High Ice",
"New Ideas from Old Bones", "Beyond Pi: Grand Challenges in the
Mathematical Sciences", and "The Physics of Chocolate". Organizing
symposia on topics of immediate research interest to me, e.g.,
"Astrotomography" and "Multiwavelength Astrophysics", has been
straightforward, and new results presented inevitably result in press
coverage.
In addition to the symposia and plenary lectures, there are
numerous workshops, opportunities to see (and judge) student research,
and special events. There is never enough time to attend everything
that sounds interesting."
Dr. Saeqa Vrtilek is a Senior Astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA. She has an undergraduate
degree in Physics from MIT and a PhD in Astronomy from Columbia
University. She has been awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship by the
American Association of University Women and a Science Fellowship by
the Radcliffe Bunting Institute. She is currently serving her 9th year
as Secretary of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. Her areas of interest include the physics
of accretion disks, multiwavelength studies of X-ray binaries and
planetary nebulae, science education, and public outreach. Dr. Vrtilek
has authored or co-authored over 50 articles in professional
astrophysics journals. She has taught as a visiting professor at the
University of Maryland and Harvard University.
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