677: Studying Signatures of Supermassive Black Holes - Dr. Tamara Bogdanović

People Behind the Science Podcast - Stories from Scientists about Science, Life, Research, and Science Careers

Dr. Tamara Bogdanović is an Assistant Professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Physics, as well as a member of the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics. She is a theoretical physicist who studies some of the largest black holes in our universe, known as supermassive black holes. She investigates observational signatures associated with the interactions these supermassive black holes have with gas and stars. Her group works to develop theoretical models to predict signatures of supermassive black hole interactions that can potentially be identified in observational astronomical data. Free time for Tamara is spent outdoors hiking in the woods or strolling around the neighborhood with her husband. She also likes participating in group yoga classes and immersing herself in different worlds through reading. She received her B.Sc. in Astrophysics from the University of Belgrade in Serbia and her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Pennsylvania State University. Tamara conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland, where she received a NASA sponsored Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship as well as an Astronomy Prize Theory Postdoctoral Fellowship. She has also been named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, a Cottrell Scholar, and a Cullen-Peck Fellow in recognition of her research and teaching. In this interview, Tamara shares stories from her life and science.