Sara Seager

Sara Seager is a pioneering astrophysicist and planetary scientist renowned for her groundbreaking work in the study of exoplanets and their atmospheres. Her theoretical research and development of novel detection methods have been instrumental in advancing the search for Earth-like worlds beyond our solar system. Often called an "astronomical Indiana Jones," her work bridges theoretical astrophysics and the future of space-based observation, aiming to find signs of life on other planets. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has played key roles in missions with NASA and other space agencies.

Early life and education

Born in Toronto, she developed an early interest in science while exploring the Canadian wilderness. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Physics at the University of Toronto, where she was initially drawn to cosmology. Her academic focus shifted decisively toward exoplanets during her graduate studies after the landmark 1995 discovery of 51 Pegasi b by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. She earned her Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard University in 1999 under the supervision of Dimitar Sasselov, with a thesis that laid foundational work on the theory of hot Jupiter atmospheres.

Career and research

After postdoctoral work at the Institute for Advanced Study and a faculty position at the Carnegie Institution for Science, she joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007. Her research career is defined by pioneering the study of exoplanet atmospheres through transmission spectroscopy, a technique that analyzes starlight filtered through a planet's atmosphere during a transit. She has developed key models for atmospheric composition and pioneered the concept of using biosignature gases, like oxygen and methane, as indicators of life. Seager leads several ambitious projects, including serving as deputy science director for the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and as principal investigator for the Aerosol, Cloud, Convection and Precipitation (ACCP) study. She is also a co-investigator on the James Webb Space Telescope and advocates for the Starshade concept, a space-based occulter designed to directly image exoplanets.

Awards and honors

Her transformative contributions have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards. She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2013, often called the "genius grant." She received the Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy from the American Astronomical Society in 2007 and the Harold C. Urey Prize from the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences. In 2018, she was honored with the Klumpke-Roberts Award for outstanding contributions to public understanding of astronomy. She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Canada, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was also named a Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020.

Personal life

She is married to Charles Darrow, an expert in computational finance. She has two sons from a previous marriage to the late Michael Wevrick, a fellow University of Toronto alumnus. Her personal experiences with profound loss have influenced her memoir, *The Smallest Lights in the Universe*, which intertwines her journey in grief with her scientific quest to find other worlds. She is a strong advocate for women in STEM fields and often speaks about balancing a demanding research career with family life.

Selected publications

Her extensive body of work includes highly cited review articles and seminal research papers. Key publications include "Atmospheric Circulation of Hot Jupiters" in the *Astrophysical Journal*, "Exoplanet Atmospheres" in the *Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics*, and "The Search for O2 in Exoplanetary Atmospheres" in *Astrobiology*. She is also the author of the textbook *Exoplanet Atmospheres: Physical Processes* and the popular science memoir *The Smallest Lights in the Universe*.

Category:American astrophysicists Category:Canadian astrophysicists Category:Exoplanetologists Category:MacArthur Fellows Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty