astronomy

Tanya Harrison

Tanya Harrison is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tanya Harrison rather than just read about it. In short: Tanya Harrison is a planetary scientist who was until March 2023 a manager of science programs at Planet Labs, working in their federal arm with science agencies to increase research use of Planet Labs' Earth observing satellite data. Previously, Harrison was the director of research at Arizona State University's Space Technology and Science Initiative, and was on the science team of the Mars Opportunity and Curiosi…

Key takeaways

Tanya Harrison belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tanya Harrison to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tanya Harrison from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tanya Harrison is a planetary scientist who was until March 2023 a manager of science programs at Planet Labs, working in their federal arm with science agencies to increase research use of Planet Labs' Earth observing satellite data. Previously, Harrison was the director of research at Arizona State University's Space Technology and Science Initiative, and was on the science team of the Mars Opportunity and Curiosity rovers.

Education At the age of five, Harrison watched Big Bird in Japan and became interested in space. She joined the Seattle chapter of Mars Society, and attended the 3rd International Mars Society Conference in Toronto. Harrison completed her bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics at the University of Washington in 2006, before a masters degree in earth and environmental sciences at Wesleyan University in 2008. Harrison completed her PhD at the University of Western Ontario's Centre for Planetary Science and Space Exploration in 2016 while working under the direction of Gordon Osinski and Livio Tornabene. Alongside her postgraduate studies, Harrison worked as a public outreach assistant.

Research

Harrison's research is in Martian geomorphology and terrestrial analogues, spectroscopy and glaciology. In 2008, Harrison became Assistant Staff Scientist at Malin Space Science Systems, after receiving a NASA scholarship. She worked on the science operation team for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. She also worked for the Mars Color Imager, the Mast Cameras and Mars Hand Lens Imager. During this time, Harrison worked on science track programming for Norwescon. Between 2010 and 2012, Harrison worked at The Planetary Society as web editor. In 2011, Harrison was part of the team that won the NASA Group Achievement Award for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. She won a second in 2013 as part of the Mars Science Laboratory Mast Camera team. Harrison is a recipient of the Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship (awarded twice), the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, and Geological Society of America On to the Future Award, among others. She worked as a research assistant in the Centre for Planetary Science & Exploration at the University of Western Ontario. In 2016, she won the Geological Society of America Paul Pellas-Ryder Award. That year she became a postdoctoral scholar and director of research of the NewSpace Initiative at Arizona State University. She worked with commercial space companies (including Blue Origin and Bigelow Aerospace). Harrison has cited NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission as one of her biggest inspirations. She was selected for Planet's Science Ambassadors program for her work on gullies on Devon Island, Canada, as an analogue for Martian gullies.

Public engagement In 2017, Harrison joined a flight of scientists to watch the total solar eclipse from an airplane. She is also a professional photographer. Harrison has been involved with The Mars Society, National Space Society and Girl Scouts. She has contributed to New Scientist, Gizmodo, The Weather Network and Slate. Harrison has spoken of her struggles with harassment in the STEM workplace. She regularly appears in the public discussion of astronomy.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tanya Harrison

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tanya Harrison claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tanya Harrison before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tanya Harrison ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tanya Harrison

In research: Tanya Harrison appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tanya Harrison in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tanya Harrison is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American earth scientists, 21st-century American women scientists, American geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tanya Harrison outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tanya Harrison in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tanya Harrison means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tanya Harrison out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tanya Harrison in simple terms?

Why does Tanya Harrison matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tanya Harrison?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tanya Harrison.