In 2017, we announced a new AAS-sponsored program for graduate students: the AAS Media Fellowship. This quarter-time opportunity is intended for current graduate students in the astronomical sciences who wish to cultivate their science-communication skills. This year, for the first time, we are welcoming two Media Fellows to the team.
We are pleased to announce that Lucas Brown and Alexia Kubas have been selected as our AAS Media Fellows for 2026–2027.
Alexia Kubas, a 2026–2027 AAS Media Fellow, is a graduate student at Cornell University.
Alexia majored in astronomy with minors in physics, math, and planetary sciences at the University of Arizona. They are now a fifth-year PhD candidate at Cornell University, researching periglacial processes on Earth and Ceres. Outside of research, Alexia founded and currently helps run an Ithaca, NY, chapter of Astronomy on Tap.
Lucas majored in physics with an astronomy concentration at the University of California, Davis, and he has a master’s degree in physics from Tufts University. He is now a physics PhD candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he works with Stefano Profumo on studying the phenomenology of primordial black holes. Outside of research, Lucas participates in outreach activities through organizations like the Santa Cruz Organization for Outreach in Physics and the Project for Inmate Education. He also serves as co-chair of the Astrobites collaboration.
2026–2027 AAS Media Fellow Lucas Brown is a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
As AAS Media Fellows, Alexia and Lucas will regularly write and publish summaries of the latest astronomy research on AAS Nova, assist in managing the distribution of press releases as part of the AAS press office, and gain a broad understanding of the worlds of scientific publishing, communications, and policy. Alexia and Lucas will also be assisting with the press conferences at the upcoming AAS meetings, so please say hello if you spot them at future meetings!
As we welcome our new Fellows to the team, we’ll also soon bid farewell to Lexi Gault, our 2024–2026 AAS Media Fellow. Lexi will be continuing her PhD research at Indiana University, where she studies the interstellar medium conditions in nearby low-mass galaxies. After defending her PhD in Spring 2027, Lexi plans to pursue a postdoc in extragalactic astronomy or a full-time science writing position.
Please join us in welcoming Lucas and Alexia as our new Media Fellows and wishing Lexi the best in all her future endeavors!