Rebecca Pitts

Hi, I'm Rebecca Pitts. I'm from Jacksonville, Florida, and I'm currently an astrophysics major at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, from which I'll graduate in the spring of 2012. My project this summer is  "Correlating Solar Wind Conditions with Jovian IR Aurorae" with Drs. Theodor Kostiuk, Robert MacDowall, and Timothy Livengood. And I have completely forgotten any student names that might've come with that email. Sorry, I'll remember everybody's faces, I swear!


I've been in love with science my whole life. In childhood I wanted to be a biologist, but I'd had my first brush with planetary sciences as soon as I'd overcome my fear of large, dark, enclosed spaces (namely, planetariums). I continued to acquire tidbits on space sciences and astrophysics through my entire school career, despite my 7-year sidetrack with the arts in middle and high school, in which I became a dual art history and printmaking major. But the promises of science just kept calling me back, and by my junior year, though I still planned to see out my high school career in art, I'd decided my future lay in physics, astrophysics in particular. My summer class at Harvard, Intro to Astronomy, sealed the deal. Quantum physics, geophysics, and nuclear physics were also points of interest for me, but none of them could match the ethereal visual aesthetic of astronomy.


Obviously, I can't just let go of 7 years of artistic training. I still love to draw (especially but not exclusive anime-style) and write stories. I particularly love the Art Deco movement and the art of the Middle and Far East. I also love daytime trekking in the mountains (though I confess I despise camping), probably an artifact of being stuck most of my life in a state where the tallest point in the state is on top of a skyscraper. I took 3 years of Spanish, but it's been so long I don't have much to show for it anymore. And I'm still an animal-lover, especially of cats. I'm going to miss my cats Rocky and Moe this summer. I think that covers most of my bases. See you all there!