Isler thinks big — very big. She studies blazars, or blazing quasars — “hyperactive supermassive black holes”, which produce particle streams at the centre of massive galaxies. She is also working to make science, technology, engineering and maths more accessible to underrepresented communities. “Who knew that chasing after the Universe would ground me so deeply to my mission here on Earth?” she says. “Then again, when do we ever know where love’s first flutter will truly take us?”
Why study supermassive hyperactive black holes? “Because it’s one of the most awesome questions on the planet — to learn how black holes work and to get to watch them every day as a job,” Isler says. “It’s the wonderment of it all — getting to peer out into the Universe and see this larger than life thing that’s so exotic. And watch it move and eat and burp and spit out….”
By: David Rowan,
