Bonny L. Schumaker
Bonny Laura Schumaker (born 1953) is an American physicist and pilot who worked on the LISA Pathfinder. In 2010 she founded the nonprofit "On Wings of Care", a charity which protects animals and environments.[1]
Bonny L. Schumaker | |
---|---|
Alma mater | California Institute of Technology |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Thesis | Theoretical Investigations in Nonlinear Quantum Optics, Theory of Measurement, and Pulsations of General Relativistic Models of Neutron Stars (1985) |
Doctoral advisor | Kip Thorne |
Early life and education
Schumaker was born and raised in Wisconsin, near Lake Michigan.[2] She wanted to be a vet but was awarded a scholarship to study physics at California Polytechnic State University.[2] She loved mathematics, and moved to California Institute of Technology for her graduate studies, earning a PhD in 1985.[3] She worked under the supervision of Kip Thorne.[3] Over six papers, her PhD thesis considered theoretical investigations into nonlinear quantum optics.[4] She developed the mathematical theory of toroidal oscillations in fully relativistic spherical stellar models and worked on homodyne detection.[4][5] Her work considered two-photon physics using quadrature phase amplitudes, a technique now known as the Caves–Schumaker formalism, which has become a standard mathematical tool in optomechanics, quantum optics and gravitational wave science.[6][7][8] She worked at CalTech as a postdoctoral research fellow for a year, before moving to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1986.[9] In 1988 she was awarded the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award for her contributions to quantum optics.[10][11][12] Schumaker trained as a pilot in 1996 and flew for Continental Airlines.[13] She became a Federal Aviation Administration instructor in the mid nineties. She developed the Precision Optical INTerferometer in space (POINTS) that was proposed for the ASEPS-1 mission.[14][15]
Career
Schumaker conceptualised the LISA Pathfinder experiment at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.[16][17][18] She worked in the design and development team of the interferometer.[2][19][20][21][22] By 2008 Schumaker had completed three mock data challenges, demonstrating the ability of the device to deal with the Galactic foreground and achieve accurate recovery of EMRI signals.[23] The pathfinder contains six gold-platinum cube proof masses, and Schumaker predicted that "a nudge equivalent to the air pressure from a human whisper 40 kilometers away would tip a cube out of whack".[24] She worked on a new technique to monitor changes in carbon found in soil; combining field-delineated spatial units, remote sensing, soil residues and simulations models.[25][26] Schumaker retired from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2011.[13]
Wings of Care
Schumaker founded the nonprofit "On Wings of Care" in 2010, which looks to promote the welfare of animals. Schumaker uses her skills as a pilot to assess animal habitats, helping with rescues and rehabilitation. She joined the Board of Directors of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.[27] Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, Schumaker has flown over the Gulf of Mexico for over 600 hours, locating and protecting animals.[28][29] She flies a Cessna called "Bessie".[2] She is often the first responder for pollution incidents.[28] In August 2011 she identified oil globules on the surface of the ocean which had erupted from the broken well of Deepwater Horizon.[2][30] She published the book The Story of Pellie Lou: A Pelican Who Survived the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill in 2015.[31] She has returned to the oil spill with various news organisations, and supported the local community in seeking justice.[32][33][34][35] In 2018 she flew over the coastline of Louisiana to evaluate the fallout from Hurricane Katrina.[36] She has since studied hydrocarbon seepage in the Mississippi Canyon.[37]
References
- On Wings of Care, accessed 4 Jan 2019
- "Bonny Schumaker: one woman's journey from rocket scientist to cat pilot". AL.com. 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Bonny L. Schumaker at the Mathematics Genealogy Project.
- Schumaker, Bonny Laura (1985). Theoretical Investigations in Nonlinear Quantum Optics, Theory of Measurement, and Pulsations of General Relativistic Models of Neutron Stars (phd thesis). California Institute of Technology.
- Schumaker, Bonny L. (1984-05-01). "Noise in homodyne detection" (PDF). Optics Letters. 9 (5): 189–191. Bibcode:1984OptL....9..189S. doi:10.1364/OL.9.000189. ISSN 1539-4794. PMID 19721539.
- Caves, Carlton M.; Schumaker, Bonny L. (1985). "New formalism for two-photon quantum optics. I. Quadrature phases and squeezed states". Physical Review A. 31 (5): 3068–3092. Bibcode:1985PhRvA..31.3068C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.31.3068. PMID 9895862.
Caves, Carlton M.; Schumaker, Bonny L. (1985). "New formalism for two-photon quantum optics. II. Mathematical foundation and compact notation". Physical Review A. 31 (5): 3093–3111. Bibcode:1985PhRvA..31.3093S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.31.3093. PMID 9895863. - Caves, Carlton M. (1988-02-26). "Final Report for CalTech (California Institute of Technology) Contract No. N00014-85-K-0005" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Danilishen, Stefan L.; Khalili, Farid Ya. (2012). "Quantum Measurement Theory in Gravitational-Wave Detectors". Living Reviews in Relativity. 15 (1): 5. arXiv:1203.1706. Bibcode:2012LRR....15....5D. doi:10.12942/lrr-2012-5. PMC 5256003. PMID 28179836.
- "Caltech Astronomy Graduate Alumni". lco.global. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "Maria Goeppert Mayer Award". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "FermiNews - October 20, 2000". www.fnal.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "American Physical Society Honors Seven Physicists at April Meeting". Physics Today. 49 (9): 123–126. 1988. Bibcode:1988PhT....41i.123.. doi:10.1063/1.2811572.
- "Altadena's Bonnie Schumaker takes to the sky for animals". altadenablog. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Reasenberg, Robert D.; Babcock, Robert W.; Murison, Marc A.; Noecker, Martin C.; Phillips, James D.; Schumaker, Bonny L.; Ulvestad, James S. (1994-06-01). "POINTS: an astrometric spacecraft with multifarious applications". Amplitude and Intensity Spatial Interferometry Ii. 2200: 2–17. Bibcode:1994SPIE.2200....2R. doi:10.1117/12.177228. S2CID 128813273.
- B., Schumaker. Spacecraft and Mission Design for the Precision Optical INTerferometer in Space (POINTS). OCLC 703661163.
- Schumaker, Bonny L. (2003). "Disturbance reduction requirements for LISA". Classical and Quantum Gravity. 20 (10): S239–S253. Bibcode:2003CQGra..20S.239S. doi:10.1088/0264-9381/20/10/327. ISSN 0264-9381.
- "HEAD - Newsletter No. 90, Nov 2007". cxc.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "FireSat - Global Fire Monitoring Centre" (PDF). gfmc.online. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Astro-GR, LISA's Disturbance Reduction System (2/2) by Bonny Schumaker - GW Course: astro-gr.org, retrieved 2018-12-31
- Astro-GR, LISA's Disturbance Reduction System (1/2) by Bonny Schumaker - GW Course: astro-gr.org, retrieved 2018-12-31
- "Participants - Cosmos". www.cosmos.esa.int. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "Milestones for LISA AMIGOS* Development" (PDF). labcit.ligo.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "HEAD - Newsletter No. 92, May 2008". head.aas.org. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Irion, Robert (2002-08-16). "Gravitational Wave Hunters Take Aim at the Sky". Science. 297 (5584): 1113–1115. doi:10.1126/science.297.5584.1113. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 12183608. S2CID 206577351.
- "PNNL: Keeping Carbon in Check". www.pnnl.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Brown, David J.; Hunt, E. Raymond; Izaurralde, R. César; Paustian, Keith H.; Rice, Charles W.; Schumaker, Bonny L.; West, Tristram O. (2010). "Soil Organic Carbon Change Monitored Over Large Areas". Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union. 91 (47): 441–442. Bibcode:2010EOSTr..91..441B. doi:10.1029/2010EO470001. ISSN 2324-9250.
- https://www.2343ec78a04c6ea9d80806345d31fd78-gdprlock/pg/SeaShepherdUK/about (2010-10-19). "Sea Shepherd's Operation Gulf Rescue Continues Six Months After Spil". Sea Shepherd UK. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- "Bonny Schumaker, Author at LA Progressive". LA Progressive. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Nienaber, Georgianne (2011-09-09). "Gulf Research Pilot Troubled by Oil Sighting in Macondo Prospect". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Nienaber, Georgianne (2010-07-28). "Flyover at the Macondo Wellhead: Damage Control at "The Source"". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- L., Schumaker, Bonny (2012-04-15). The Story of Pellie Lou : a Pelican who survived the Gulf of Mexico oil spill (First printing ed.). New Orleans, LA. ISBN 9780985501105. OCLC 954587484.
- Reveal (2017-11-09), Since the Spill, retrieved 2018-12-31
- "The Aftermath". Reveal. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Castellana, Deb (2010-08-02). "Bonny Schumaker ~ An angel flying 'On Wings of Care'". Planet Ocean News. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- Smith, Stuart H. (2015-01-13). Crude Justice: How I Fought Big Oil and Won, and What You Should Know About the New Environmental Attack on America. BenBella Books, Inc. ISBN 9781940363448.
- AWE NEWS, Dr. Bonny Schumaker of "On Wings of Care" over Louisiana Coastal Waters, retrieved 2018-12-31
- Garcia-Pineda, Oscar; MacDonald, Ian; Silva, Mauricio; Shedd, William; Daneshgar Asl, Samira; Schumaker, Bonny (2016-07-01). "Transience and persistence of natural hydrocarbon seepage in Mississippi Canyon, Gulf of Mexico". Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. 129: 119–129. Bibcode:2016DSRII.129..119G. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.05.011. ISSN 0967-0645.