Quantum Physicist Dancer Who Aspires to Be An Astronaut

Dr Merritt Moore, PhD, quantum physicist, ballerina and aspiring astronaut talks with Andrea Macdonald, founder of ideaXme.

Merritt has achieved what some would call ‘the impossible’: a career as both a professional ballet dancer and academic quantum physicist.She plans on adding another profession to her roster and that profession is astronaut!

Background:

Dr. Merritt Moore graduated with Magna Cum Laude Honors in Physics from Harvard and graduated with a PhD in Atomic and Laser Physics from the University of Oxford.

Dr Moore also pursues a professional ballet career, previously with the Zurich Ballet, Boston Ballet, English National Ballet, and Norwegian National Ballet. She was recently awarded Forbes 30 under 30, and she was one of the 12 selected candidates to undergo rigorous astronaut selection on BBC Two "Astronauts: Do you have what it takes?"

Like Leonardo Da Vinci, Merritt urges that the arts and sciences should not be mutually exclusive - that science makes art better and art makes science better.

Merritt inspires young women around the world to pursue their dreams.  She has been invited to be the featured speaker at the Forbes Women's Summit in NY, Princeton Physics Department, panelist for the U.S. Embassy 'Women in STEM' Panel in London, and is featured in the bestseller "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls".

Invited as artist-in-residence at Harvard ArtLab, Merritt is creating a duet between human dancer and industrial robotic arm. She explores the future of A.I./ machine learning, specifically with dance, and welcomes all forms of collaboration fusing dance, physics and tech.

Amongst many things discussed in this interview, Dr Merritt Moore talks of:

-How her ballet makes her science better and vice versa.

-Her academic achievements as a quantum physicist.

-How she has fused both her expertise as a dancer and physicist.

-How she aspires to become an astronaut and "how her strength of mind and strength of body" qualifies her to be one.

-Her resilience.

-Who has helped her to become both a physicist and a dancer.

-Her discovery of dance late on in life and her work with the Norwegian National Ballet and English National Ballet.

Find out more about Dr Merritt Moore: physicsonpointe.com

Follow Instagram/Twitter @PhysicsonPointe.

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