Stevie Bergman

Stevie Bergman is an observational cosmologist and Ph.D. student in physics at Princeton University under Professor William Jones.

More specifically, she works on the SPIDER-2 instrument which consists of six telescopes all aiming to measure the polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The CMB was emitted everywhere in the Universe about 13.5 billion years ago, when everything was a hot plasma, and it has been traveling through the emptiness of space ever since. SPIDER-2 will take this measurement hanging from a balloon 36km above Antarctica for about 20 days in December 2019. Stevie’s daily work consists of building/fixing the 280 GHz cameras which go in three of the six SPIDER-2 telescopes, testing and commissioning the cryostat that cools the telescopes down to their operating temperature at .3 degrees above absolute zero, and analyzing data from the SPIDER-1 instrument (which flew with a different set of cameras in 2015).

After completing her BA in physics with a minor in astrophysics at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, Stevie worked as a paralegal at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC (she was considering pursuing law), then joined the Peace Corps as a science education volunteer in Uganda. In the Peace Corps, Stevie taught middle and high school math, physics, and computers, reproductive health, and created and co-directed Girltech, Uganda – a science and tech professional development camp for girls from all across the country. After two years in Uganda, Stevie worked on the Pixel detector within the ATLAS detector at CERN, then in Fall 2013, she moved to Bandung, Indonesia for a year as a Fulbright scholar. In Fall 2014, she started her graduate degree at Princeton University. In addition to research, at Princeton, Stevie co-hosts a science-centered radio show called These Vibes Are Too Cosmic on WPRB 103.3FM and tutors in the nearby prison system.

Panel Member for Careers: Graduate School Applications