"I always loved biology, and I almost became a medical doctor, but decided to do gravitational wave research instead. Part of why I love science is just the awe of nature, which is why I spend a lot of time with my plants. Plants are a nice way to remember how cool nature is every day, especially when you live in a city and can't just go hike all the time. All of my work is data analysis, and it can feel like black holes just exist on my laptop or on computing clusters. Sometimes you can forget that these are real things happening in the Universe, whereas plants are right there. I spend a lot of time with my plants and learning about how they work, experimenting with what different types of plants need, and propagating them. Taking care of them is my way to do hands-on science every day and remember that science is actually part of the real world, it doesn't just exist on your computer."

Find out more about Amanda at #HumansOfLIGO: https://humansofligo.blogspot.com/2025/12/amanda-farah.html

"I've always been interested in science, not sure when or how it started. I knew I was going to be a scientist from a young age. I did my P.D in ultrafast nonlinear fiber optics, and during an intense period of it, I started listening to astronomy podcasts to relax, which led to reading white papers about space related things, anywhere from shielding humans from energetic particles, to growing microgreens on lunar soil, to LIGO. I realized I could do this for a living"

Find out more about Begüm at #HumansOfLIGO: https://humansofligo.blogspot.com/2025/08/begum-kabagoz.html

"I remember thinking, I would not want to be an engineer on LIGO due to the complex challenges of designing and operating precision instruments. That thought fuelled my curiosity about the LIGO endeavour."

Find out more about Tiffany at #HumansOfLIGO: https://humansofligo.blogspot.com/2025/06/tiffany-nichols.html

“I am most proud of the way we as LVK members support each other in our work. Whether it be through collaboration, review work, mentoring or just showing an interest in each other’s science during telecons or conferences. It was fantastic as a PhD student to know that those more senior than you were aware and interested in what you are working on, and now as a postdoc I’m continually amazed by the fantastic science being done by everyone around me. The thing I’m most proud of is being an active part of the LVK community. I also love to paint, especially big and bright canvas paintings, and occasionally I create art based on black holes and gravitational waves. The inside cover of my PhD thesis features a binary black hole merger drawing and it was really fun to make!"

Find out more about Lucy at #HumansOfLIGO: https://humansofligo.blogspot.com/2024/04/lucy-thomas.html

#Astrodon

“[My] favourite event is the [neutron star–black hole] NSBH merger GW200105; I picture NSBHs events as the 'experienced' black hole showing the 'baby' neutron star what to do, and always find it funny.” – Leigh Smith #HumansOfLIGO

https://humansofligo.blogspot.com/2023/07/leigh-smith.html

#BlackHoleWeek #Astrodon

“I love to take my 7-year-old brother Tommy to the Adler planetarium and talk to him about space. He thinks that black holes are really cool, and whenever I feel stressed about research, I like to remind myself of this perspective by looking at one of his gravitational-wave inspired drawings that I keep at my desk” – Maya Fishbach #HumansOfLIGO

https://humansofligo.blogspot.com/2019/08/maya-fishbach.html

#BlackHoleWeek