Jessica Mink (formerly Douglas John Mink) is an American software developer and a data archivist at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. She was part of the team that discovered the rings around the planet Uranus.

Early life and career

Mink was born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

in 1951 and graduated from Dundee Community High School in 1969. She earned an S.B. degree (1973) and an S.M. degree (1974) in Planetary Science from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT). She worked at Cornell University from 1976 to 1979 as an astronomical software developer. It was during this time that she was part of the team that discovered the rings around Uranus. Within the team she was responsible for the data reduction software and the data analysis. After working at Cornell she moved back to MIT, where she did work that contributed to the discovery of the rings of Neptune. She has written a number of commonly used software packages for astrophysics, including WCSTools and RVSAO. Despite not having a PhD, Mink is a member of the American Astronomical Society and the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

Personal life

Mink is an avid bicycle user. She has served as an officer and director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition and has been the route planner for the Massachusetts portion of the

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...

since 1991. Mink is a transgender woman, and she publicly came out in 2011 at the age of 60. She has since spoken out about her experiences transitioning. She was also featured in two articles about the experiences of transitioning in a professional environment. She was a co-organiser of the 2015 Inclusive Astronomy conference at VanDerBilt University. Mink currently lives in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

( USA), and has a daughter.

References

External links

Jessica Mink's Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mink, Jessica 1951 births Living people People from Lincoln, Nebraska Harvard University staff Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Transgender women LGBT people from Nebraska LGBT scientists from the United States Transgender scientists Planetary scientists Women planetary scientists