Early career award supports sharing art, culture, planetary science

Keonehelelei Footprints in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Credit: National Park Service

With her new project, “Navigating by Moonlight: The Art of Planetary Science”, University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa researcher Emily Costello will link planetary science and art to the Indigenous culture in Hawai’i. Costello is among five scientists selected for NASA’s highly selective Planetary Science Early Career Award based on her demonstrated leadership, involvement in the planetary science community, and potential for future impact.

Costello, a research scientist and affiliate graduate faculty in the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, will receive $200,000 through this award to develop a series of presentations about her research and intersections with art and culture that she will share with diverse communities of students, experts, and the public in Hawai‘i, on the continental U.S., and in Europe and Asia.

“Since beginning my journey into science, I’ve been passionate about erasing the lines we draw between science, art, and culture,” said Costello. “A great artist and a great scientist share similar qualities, such as creativity, diligence, and the ability to think about and communicate abstract concepts.”

Costello’s presentations will be oriented around three themes regarding the unity of planetary science and culture: how space weathering over time impacts the color of surfaces in space, the music of cosmic rays, and connections between space exploration and the history of Polynesian navigation.

Informed by art, music, cultural experts

To create her presentations, Costello will incorporate her own NASA-funded research on space weathering and the effects of particles traveling faster than the speed of light. Additionally, she will draw from her experiences as a visual artist, photographer, and gallerist; and decades of composing music and playing piano, violin, mandolin, and ukulele. The links with Polynesian navigation are inspired by her time in Hawaiʻi and experts she has had the privilege of learning from.

“I am committed to building pathways between science and culture and supporting underrepresented and minoritized groups, including Native Hawaiians,” said Costello. “In my career thus far, I have focused on amplifying Hawaiian voices by developing programs and opportunities for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders to join the planetary science community.” 

Exploring the links between Costello’s scientific work investigating the evolution of the surface of the Moon and the bootprints made by astronauts in the regolith on one hand, and Polynesian navigation and Hawaiians making footprints in the Keanakakoi Ash on Hawai‘i Island on the other hand, will allow her and others to better understand both Hawaiian history and the geologic history of Kīlauea.

“With this project, I’m looking forward to learning more about and contributing to global excitement for space exploration and providing folks here at home with more pathways to participate in planetary science,” said Costello.

To learn more about Costello’s work and her journey into loving physics, watch her TEDx talk on YouTube.