Julie McEnery: Decoding the Cosmos

Julie McEnery is the senior project scientist for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Her fascination with the universe began in her childhood and continued to grow throughout her education. McEnery pursued her interests in astrophysics and particle physics, eventually earning her doctorate in high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics from The University College Dublin.

During her doctoral program, she spent several months each year at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona, where she conducted groundbreaking research on active galaxies.

One of McEnery's most significant discoveries came while studying the active galaxy Markarian 421. Her analysis suggested that the galaxy was varying in dramatic ways on very short timescales, which was thought to be impossible at the time. However, her observations confirmed her findings, leading to the realization that thousands of galaxies exhibit similar behavior. This discovery was groundbreaking, as it opened up new avenues of research and understanding of the universe.

After completing her doctorate, McEnery sought a role that allowed her to work technically outdoors. With limited opportunities available for women at the time, she found a perfect fit working on an experiment using a ground-based gamma-ray telescope in Los Alamos, New Mexico. This experience led her to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where she now serves as the senior project scientist for the Roman Space Telescope.