Starstruck

Currently, Shields serves as an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, where she leads a research group utilizing computer models to assess conditions on exoplanets, or planets orbiting stars apart from the sun. While her main occupation involves the pursuit of extraterrestrial life, her creative pursuits further enrich her existence on this planet.

In 2023, Shields released a memoir titled Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe. She also initiated a notable educational initiative aimed at inspiring young girls to delve into space, stemming from a highly viewed TED Talk discussing the discovery of life on other planets, and has received numerous prestigious academic accolades and grants. Moreover, she plays violin, enjoys cooking, practices yoga, and is a mother. As a self-identified “rest leader”—a professional advocate for taking breaks—Shields has, against all odds, managed to do the impossible: carve out time for herself.

Her unconventional journey began in front of the camera, in the domain of imagination.

“I aspired to become an astronaut. That aspiration ignited very early in life, at 12, after viewing a film depicting children being launched into the cosmos,” she mentions, referencing SpaceCamp, an ’80s comedy centering on a fortuitous shuttle flight.

The subsequent cinematic influence solidified her fascination.

“Charlotte Blackwood was an astrophysicist, and she was also incredibly glamorous,” Shields recalls, beaming at the thought of being enthralled by the leading lady in Top Gun. “There’s a legendary scene where she walks between Tom Cruise and other pilot trainees, and then she dramatically takes off her glasses, appearing so formidable.”

While an exceptional student in California, Canada, and Massachusetts, Shields transitioned to Phillips Exeter Academy, largely attracted by its top-notch astronomical observatory. Once there, she became deeply engaged in acting. “A new dream emerged,” she asserts.

Throughout high school, her dreams in astronomy and acting “intertwined lightly,” Shields reminisces. “Yet I remained steadfast with the former and enrolled at MIT, recognizing it as the premier science institution in the country. I learned that at 12—that’s where I was headed.”

Initially at MIT, Shields faced academic challenges and sought solace in the arts. She was selected for the Burchard Scholars Program, hosting monthly seminars that connect faculty with students excelling in the arts, social sciences, and humanities. She sang with the a cappella group the Muses and participated in numerous theatrical productions. By her senior year, she found herself pondering: “Should I attend grad school for acting or astronomy?”

“There were many signs that seemed to align—indicating: Go back and pursue that PhD.”

The latter choice prevailed, but not for long. Shields entered a graduate astronomy program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “That year, a white male professor advised me to consider alternative career paths, which was difficult to hear,” she describes. She reflects, “I’m pursuing the other dream because it seems evident that someone believes I don’t belong here. Perhaps they are correct.”

Thus, she applied to UCLA, where she acquired an MFA in acting, distancing herself from astronomy for over a decade. However, while juggling various jobs to support her acting career, a mentor from her undergraduate studies suggested checking a job board operated by Caltech. She discovered an opening for a help desk operator at the Spitzer Space Telescope, which specializes in observing the formation of young stars—and it required only a bachelor’s degree. “I’d pass along the more difficult queries to the PhDs,” she notes. “But accepting that position allowed me to attend astronomy talks once more … The field of exoplanets had seen tremendous growth during my hiatus.”

Shields enjoyed some achievement in acting, including a role in a film titled Nine Lives, showcased at the Sundance Film Festival. Yet a significant opportunity—and subsequent disappointment—arose when she was cast as the host for Wired Science, only to be replaced by new presenters shortly after. She describes it as a “heartbreaking moment.”

Shortly thereafter, she reached out via email to the renowned astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson, whom she had met through an astronomer affiliated with the Spitzer Space Telescope, sharing her recent experience. He responded, noting he had seen her in the pilot and advised, “Without a PhD, you lack the necessary credibility for science television,” she recalls. Concurrently, she applied to NASA’s astronaut candidate program but didn’t advance beyond the initial phase. (However, she did portray an astronaut in a recent Toyota advertisement.) “There were numerous signs that indicated: Return and obtain that PhD,” she states. Subsequently, she did, achieving her doctorate in astronomy and astrobiology in 2014 from the University of Washington.

Astrobiology, Shields elaborates, is a burgeoning field that examines the origins, evolution, and distribution of life across the universe: “It explores how life commenced on Earth.”

Astrobiologists might concentrate on the potential for life on other planets, manners of searching for life beyond Earth, or different solvents besides water that could sustain life. This interdisciplinary realm encompasses various specialties. “Astronomers are scouting for these planets, employing their unique expertise to answer the pressing question: Are we alone?” Shields clarifies. Some also have backgrounds in chemistry, biology, oceanography, and geology, tackling these inquiries through their specific lenses and individual areas of knowledge,” she adds. “That’s what makes it so appealing. As astrobiologists, we don’t need to accumulate 15 PhDs. We collaborate with individuals from diverse departments who contribute their own knowledge … on those scientific inquiries.”

Shields is addressing a query inspired by the cosmos—one that’s profoundly personal yet universally relatable, both astronomically and colloquially. “Since I was little, I’ve gazed at the sky and pondered what lies beyond,” she notes. “This curiosity stems from a sense of awe. I still experience that sensation when I observe the night sky dotted with those tiny lights. I wonder: Is there anyone returning my gaze? … How infinite is space?”

She explains that our galaxy contains approximately 100 billion stars, with most being orbited by at least one planet, alongside 100 billion galaxies beyond our own. That translates to roughly 10²² stars within the universe. The probability that only Earth has been able to foster life “is quite low,” Shields asserts.

“I’m searching for planetary conditions that may allow life to thrive beyond Earth,” she states. “My team primarily achieves this through climate models, similar to those used for predicting Earth’s climate and weather.”

Shields integrates data obtained by observational astronomers into these models, alongside various hypothetical combinations of unexplored factors—such as the light a planet receives from its sun, the composition of its atmosphere and surface, and specific orbital parameters. “There’s a limit to what you can discern about a planet based on the telescope data you gather,” she clarifies. “We can evaluate that parameter space through climate models, assessing: If it has this surface make-up, this is what the temperature would be on that planet. If its atmosphere comprises this, and it follows this orbit, this is the projected climate, and this indicates its habitability across the surface.”

Since the early 1990s, astronomers have identified 6,000 exoplanets. Shields notes that among those within Earth’s size spectrum—which captivates her most—there are hundreds. A smaller portion orbits within what is termed the “habitable zone” of their star, establishing warm enough conditions to sustain liquid water—the essential ingredient for life. To date, around 100 or so planets falling into that category have been pinpointed, but the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, could unveil even more potentially habitable worlds by detecting “biosignatures” indicative of biological activity, like specific atmospheric gases or reflections signaling water on the surface of a planet.

Detecting more of these signals, Shields asserts, represents the next significant mission in astronomy.

TED CONFERENCES, VIA YOUTUBE

At present, in her scholarly endeavors, her thoughts ascend to the farthest corners of the cosmos. Yet, during her treasured moments outside academic duties, she has embraced the art of tranquility. When her workload began to overwhelm her, her health suffered. It was then she discovered yoga nidra—a time-honored meditation practice where participants are guided into a deeply restorative “yogic sleep.” Shields read the book Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women, which asserts that 20 or 30 minutes of yoga nidra “feels comparable to three hours of sleep” within one’s body, she says. “As a mother to a young child, I thought: Yes, please!”

Last year, she trained with Karen Brody, author of Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation, to become a certified facilitator. “It’s crucial for me to share this knowledge widely and actively introduce the academic community, in particular, to the idea of resting as a regular practice,” she remarks. She is currently writing a book about her endeavor to moderate her commitments—to resist the allure of overextending herself. She has learned to decline requests and establish clear boundaries between her professional and personal life.

Shields has discovered that her seemingly unrelated passions for astronomy and acting can coexist without conflict. Merging them enhances her effectiveness as an educator.

On a weekday in August, an ayurvedic soup cooks on her stove. A music stand occupies a corner in a room where she occasionally picks up her violin and plays folk tunes. (Her parents, both musicians, derived her name from a chant of sounds created by them.) She references the poem “swim | women of color” by Nayyirah Waheed and recites it in a gentle, resonant tone. Part of it reads: “This structure relies on your inability to decline. mean no. they extract no from our first breath. return it to your mouth. your heart. your light.”

“I must kindly release or decline—creating space for someone else to accept,” Shields articulates. “This grants me more flexibility in my schedule since I’ve realized that as women of color ascend the academic hierarchy, the number of requests rises sharply, making saying no not just a vital skill but a necessity for survival.”

Along her journey, Shields has come to understand that her seemingly unconnected interests in astronomy and acting need not conflict. On the contrary, combining them—and sharing her enthusiasm for both—renders her a more effective educator. Her acting skills empower her to craft lectures that captivate her students and enliven her presentations, including her TED Talk, in a way that resonates with a non-scientific audience.

COURTESY OF RISING STARGIRLS

Shields is also harnessing her passion for acting to motivate the next wave of scientists who will address the essential questions of astronomy. As part of a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Science Foundation, she was asked to design an educational outreach component. “I pondered: Is there a way to utilize acting as a means to educate others in astronomy?” she reflects. “Upon further investigation, I found evidence indicating that when girls engage in the creative arts—such as theater and writing—and merge that with astronomy education, it boosts their confidence in both posing and answering questions.”

This finding resonated with her personal journey. After all, it was acting—which she embraced when discouraged from pursuing astronomy—that empowered her to return to that field. “I viewed acting as an outlet, a safe haven,” she explains. “No one could dismiss my potential as an actor.”

With this understanding, Shields created Rising Stargirls, which conducts workshops employing the creative arts to teach astronomy to middle-school girls from various backgrounds. She and her colleagues have published findings demonstrating that participants in the program expressed increased enthusiasm for science classes and a greater belief in their abilities to excel in scientific endeavors.

“We aim for them to recognize that their identity is fundamentally significant and crucial to their exploration and practice of astronomy,” Shields states. “The sciences are deeply creative, and they are encouraged to meld their imaginative artistry and inspiration derived from the arts into their pursuit of knowledge about the universe.”

This mutual influence has been evident in Shields’s life, but it has only recently become clear to her how akin her roles as an astronomer and an actor truly are. “At their core, both are about narrative,” she asserts.

Actors must express the journey or transformation of a story through their characters’ experiences. “Stars and planets lead rich lives as well,” Shields declares. “They are born, evolve, and ultimately perish. My role as a scientist is to illuminate that narrative—to uncover whether life exists elsewhere.”