Membership
- Any student currently enrolled at Yale University is eligible for membership.
- Active membership is defined based on attendance of at least 5 study halls, board meetings, or other events organized by YASSS per semester. YASSS members have access to mentorship opportunities, study halls, educational resources, and community-building events.
- YASSS stands strongly against any form of discrimination including discrimination based upon race, religion, gender, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, age, etc. YASSS is committed to creating a safe and welcoming community for any Yale student interested in joining as well as establishing a robust structure for reporting any instances of discrimination, intimidation, harassment, or bullying.
To join, go to YaleConnect: https://yaleconnect.yale.edu/YAS/club_signup
To stay updated, join our GroupMe : https://groupme.com/join_group/92348374/1fOtXdIA
Current Board Members
President, Founder
Julia is over the moon to be the Founder and President of YASSS! She is a senior from Michigan double majoring in Astrophysics and Computer Science working with Earl Bellinger in the study of stellar astrophysics. She serves as the Yale Daily News’ Beat Reporter covering the stories in the Physics, CS, and adjacent departments. She is also the Yale Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium’s Observing Assistant and is driven by scientific outreach. When she is not stargazing, Julia can be found building LEGO, absorbing a plethora of Sci-Fy, and wearing a winter coat when it is way too warm outside. She’s so looking forward to leading the Society, YASSS!
Vice President
Yu-Ting is a sophomore from California double majoring in astrophysics and political science. He works on gravitational wave research in the Mingarelli Lab and loves doing astrophotography on clear nights. When he’s not annoyed at his friends for calling him an astrologist, he can be found enjoying anything Star Wars, reading the news and watching Stephen Colbert, and submitting his problem sets a minute before the deadline.
Treasurer
Lucas is a sophomore from New York majoring in astrophysics. He is specifically interested in the fields surrounding exoplanets and stars. In his free time, he enjoys reading fantasy book and going on long bike rides. In addition, he loves backpacking and mountaineering, as well as nature in general.
Assistant Treasurer
Jess is a junior from New Jersey majoring in computer science and math. While she’s not a physics major, she loves taking physics courses and is currently a first-time ULA for Physics 260. Jess loves hiking, running, reading, and writing music.
Co-Outreach Chair
Tina is a senior from Chicago majoring in MCDB on the pre-med track. She does research in Meg Urry’s group looking to find dual active galactic nuclei in the IllustrisTNG simulation to create synthetic images for a machine learning pipeline. She is working to characterize dual AGN properties to trace the evolution of AGNs and the galaxies they belong to in order to predict future duals. When she’s not angry at Jupyter Notebooks, she’s on the soccer field!
Co-Outreach Chair
Kyra is a sophomore from New York majoring in astrophysics. When she’s not frantically answering her psets, she can be found at the observatory, building rockets with YUAA Rocketry in the CEID, volunteering with Yale Community Kitchen, or trying to find the perfect slice of New Haven pizza.
Co-Outreach Chair
Ellis is a sophomore from New York majoring in astrophysics, who loves all things space! When they’re not stargazing (or complaining about poor observing conditions), Ellis can be found conducting gravitational wave research at the Mingarelli Lab, trying to not get blown up with the YUAA Liquid Rocketry team, playing the piano, spending copious amounts of time tinkering at the CEID (their natural habitat), or doodling while whistfully looking into the sunset.
Co-Outreach Chair
Mahitha is a transfer sophomore student from the University of Pittsburgh. She is majoring in astrophysics and previously did research dynamically modeling the broad-line region of AGN. Other than YASSS, she is involved in Yale Scientific Magazine, LFOP, and DEMOS, and is passionate about science communication and education. You can find her studying in the library, volunteering at the farm, or doing various arts & crafts in her suite.
Co-Projects Chair
Amanda is a junior from New York studying Stats & Data Science. She’s super excited to get more involved with the astro community at Yale. Outside of YASSS, you’ll find her flipping sandwiches at TD Butt, watching Brooklyn 99, and reviewing the New Haven matcha scene!
Co-Projects Chair
Diego is a sophomore from Tampa majoring in astrophysics. He does black hole astrophysics research in the Urry Lab, and spends wayyy too much time in the Astro Lounge. This year, he started out in Elmseed and is very excited to join the YASSS board. Besides school, you’ll find him in PWG, the soccer fields, or watching a good footy match.
Study Hall Chair
Em is a junior from Colorado majoring in astrophysics. They work on the outer solar system (shoutout ice giants !!) in the Rice Research Group, and can often be found stumbling around campus from paying too much attention to the sky and not enough attention to the ground. In his free time, he can be found playing D&D, thinking very intently about lighthouses, and wondering if tear stains will count for extra credit on a pset.
Communications Chair
Asuka is a sophomore from New York City majoring in Math and Philosophy. She writes for SciTech at the Yale Daily News and previously researched stellar accretion phenomena in hot sub-dwarfs. In her free time, she can be found wandering in the many museums at Yale and in New Haven.