Olivia Harper Wilkins

Olivia Harper Wilkins

  • NPP FELLOW
  • 301.286.1789
  • NASA/GSFC
  • Mail Code: 691
  • Greenbelt , MD 20771
  • Employer: NPP POST-DOC CONTRACT
  • Brief Bio

    Dr. Olivia Harper Wilkins (she/her) is an astrochemist and artist currently working as a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow in the Astrochemistry Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. At Goddard, she works on the Sublimation Laboratory Ice Millimeter/submillimeter Experiment (SubLIME) to study the chemistry of UV-irradiated ice analogues. Before coming to NASA as an NPP Fellow, Dr. Wilkins earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Caltech, where she did observational astrochemistry related to the Orion Kleinmann-Low (Orion KL) nebula using high-angular-resolution mapping of methanol using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Dr. Wilkins also wrote and illustrated Astrochemistry, which was published in 2021, for the American Chemical Society (ACS) In Focus series.

    Research Interests

    astrochemistry

    radio astronomy

    laboratory astrophysics

    Current Projects

    Sublimation Laboratory Ice Millimeter/submillimeter Experiment (SubLIME)

    Education

    Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2021, Caltech, Pasadena CA 91125

    B.S. (Magna Cum Laude) in Chemistry (with Honors) and Mathematics, 2015, Dickinson College, Carlisle PA 17013

    Professional Societies

    American Astronomical Society, 2020 - Present
    Member
    American Chemical Society, 2013 - Present
    Member
    Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023 - Present
    Associate Member (AMRSC)
    Royal Astronomical Society, 2019 - Present
    Fellow (FRAS)

    Awards

    2022, AGU/SciAct Afilliate Program

    2022, CAS Future Leaders Program

    2022, NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellowship

    2020-2021, National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Student Observing Support (SOS) Award

    2016-2021, National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship

    2019-2021, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship

    2018-2019, Kanel Foundation Scholarship

    2015-2016, Fulbright Research Fellowship to Germany


    Publications

    Refereed

    Wilkins, O., and G. A. Blake. 2023. "New Interstellar Laboratories in the Molecular Ring." Faraday Discussions, (Accepted) [10.1039/d3fd00003f]

    Wilkins, O. H., P. B. Carroll, and G. A. Blake. 2022. "Mapping Physical Parameters in Orion KL at High Spatial Resolution." The Astrophysical Journal, 924 (1): 4 [10.3847/1538-4357/ac3132]

    Wilkins, O. H., G. A. Blake. 2021. "Astrochemistry." ACS In Focus, [10.1021/acsinfocus.7e5004]

    Wehres, N., M. Hermanns, O. H. Wilkins, et al. K. Borisov, F. Lewen, J.-U. Grabow, S. Schlemmer, and H. S. Müller. 2018. "Rotational spectroscopy of the two conformers of 3-methylbutyronitrile (C4H9CN) between 2 and 400 GHz." Astronomy & Astrophysics, 615: A140 [10.1051/0004-6361/201832994]

    Müller, H. S., A. Walters, N. Wehres, et al. A. Belloche, O. H. Wilkins, D. Liu, R. Vicente, R. T. Garrod, K. M. Menten, F. Lewen, and S. Schlemmer. 2016. "Laboratory spectroscopic study and astronomical detection of vibrationally excitedn-propyl cyanide." Astronomy & Astrophysics, 595: A87 [10.1051/0004-6361/201629309]

    Graninger, D. M., O. H. Wilkins, and K. I. Öberg. 2016. "Carbon Chains and Methanol Toward Embedded Protostars." The Astrophysical Journal, 819 (2): 140 [10.3847/0004-637x/819/2/140]

    Brief Bio

    Dr. Olivia Harper Wilkins (she/her) is an astrochemist and artist currently working as a NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellow in the Astrochemistry Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. At Goddard, she works on the Sublimation Laboratory Ice Millimeter/submillimeter Experiment (SubLIME) to study the chemistry of UV-irradiated ice analogues. Before coming to NASA as an NPP Fellow, Dr. Wilkins earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Caltech, where she did observational astrochemistry related to the Orion Kleinmann-Low (Orion KL) nebula using high-angular-resolution mapping of methanol using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Dr. Wilkins also wrote and illustrated Astrochemistry, which was published in 2021, for the American Chemical Society (ACS) In Focus series.

    Publications

    Refereed

    Wilkins, O., and G. A. Blake. 2023. "New Interstellar Laboratories in the Molecular Ring." Faraday Discussions (Accepted) [10.1039/d3fd00003f]

    Wilkins, O. H., P. B. Carroll, and G. A. Blake. 2022. "Mapping Physical Parameters in Orion KL at High Spatial Resolution." The Astrophysical Journal 924 (1): 4 [10.3847/1538-4357/ac3132]

    Wilkins, O. H., G. A. Blake. 2021. "Astrochemistry." ACS In Focus [10.1021/acsinfocus.7e5004]

    Wehres, N., M. Hermanns, O. H. Wilkins, et al. K. Borisov, F. Lewen, J.-U. Grabow, S. Schlemmer, and H. S. Müller. 2018. "Rotational spectroscopy of the two conformers of 3-methylbutyronitrile (C4H9CN) between 2 and 400 GHz." Astronomy & Astrophysics 615 A140 [10.1051/0004-6361/201832994]

    Müller, H. S., A. Walters, N. Wehres, et al. A. Belloche, O. H. Wilkins, D. Liu, R. Vicente, R. T. Garrod, K. M. Menten, F. Lewen, and S. Schlemmer. 2016. "Laboratory spectroscopic study and astronomical detection of vibrationally excitedn-propyl cyanide." Astronomy & Astrophysics 595 A87 [10.1051/0004-6361/201629309]

    Graninger, D. M., O. H. Wilkins, and K. I. Öberg. 2016. "Carbon Chains and Methanol Toward Embedded Protostars." The Astrophysical Journal 819 (2): 140 [10.3847/0004-637x/819/2/140]

                                                                                                                                                                                            
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