Nebraska native Megan Donahue studies galaxy clusters as samples of the universe

Donahue grew up on a small farm in Nebraska and discovered the wider world by reading her way through her local library, the profile says. At age 12, she discovered her passion for physics in that library and started her path into astronomy thanks to “a providential interaction.”

Through MIT’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, Donahue was introduced to cutting-edge x-ray imaging, work she found “really cool,” according to the profile. She is now a professor of physics and astronomy at Michigan State University, where she researches galaxy clusters and baryonic matter, described in the profile as matter made of protons and neutrons, as opposed to dark matter.

Donahue’s research on galaxy clusters and baryonic matter is aimed at learning more about the composition of the universe and its evolution. She served as president of the American Astronomical Society from 2018 to 2020.

“Clusters of galaxies are very large scoops of the universe,” Donahue says in the profile. “It’s like taking a sample from the ocean. If you’re trying to find out the average composition of the ocean’s water, you’d want to study as big a scoop as possible.”