Dr. Cecilia Levy - Astrophysicist

Dr. Levy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Albany. She received her BSc at the Université de Montreal (QC, Canada) and MSc. At Queen’s University (ON, Canada), and a Ph.D. at the University of Muenster in Germany. She is an astroparticle physicist, with her research focused on the search for dark matter, the elusive particle that makes up a quarter of the universe. She is an active advocate for increasing diversity in Physics and STEM and is involved in numerous outreach initiatives.

Dr. Levy’s passion for the stars started when she was nine, claiming she would become an astrophysicist. She associated a lot with strong female TV show lead like Major Carter in Stargate SG-1, Dana Scully in X-files, and Princess Leia. Coming from a family with zero interest in TV and science fiction, she only discovered Star Trek in her late teens. To this day, Captain Janeway is her all-time favorite character (followed very closely by Seven of Nine!). The search for extra-terrestrial life has been a fascinating subject for her for as long as she can remember. Although a skeptic when it comes to alien encounters stories, she firmly believes that this should not be a taboo subject but rather be the object of a serious scientific investigation, which is why the mission of UAPx is so appealing to her. Since the essence of science is curiosity, open-mindedness, and following the scientific method, it seems obvious and necessary to her to apply these principles to unidentified aerial phenomena as well. The scientific truth is out there!