High School STEM Scholar Recognition Celebration with Dr. Emily Levesque

Wednesday, May 6, 2026
7:00PM - 9:00PM

Location: UW Center for Urban Horticulture
3501 NE 41st St.
Seattle, WA 98105
Map - We will be meeting in the NHS Hall.

We have been honoring high schoolers who demonstrate excellence in their STEM classes for more than 20 years. This year we’re inviting more than 40 Juniors and Seniors from the greater Seattle area and their families to celebrate with us. As always, we celebrate and are moved by our scholars and their passions and plans.

We are delighted to have astronomer and award winning University of Washington professor Dr. Emily Levesque as our keynote speaker. Her work explores how the most massive stars in the universe evolve and die. She’s traveled all over the world exploring the stars, powerful telescopes, and the sometimes quirky people who run them. She will be speaking about her adventures in the world of professional astronomy and the importance of storytelling and shared experience in building a strong scientific community.

Emily Levesque has climbed up a five-story telescope in Arizona, napped next to a giant tarantula in Chile, and shivered through experimental aircraft training in New Zealand for her research. Her academic accolades include a 2017 Alfred P. Sloan fellowship, a 2019 Cottrell Scholar award, the 2014 Annie Jump Cannon Award, and 2020 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize awarded by the American Astronomical Society. She earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from MIT and a PhD in astronomy from the University of Hawaii.

In her recent book, The Last Stargazers, she takes us on a road trip to visit the most powerful telescopes in the world, introducing the passionate and sometimes quirky individuals who run them.

Find out more about our STEM Scholar Recognition program.

In-person meeting at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture. Map - We will be meeting in the NHS Hall. We will let you know closer to the event any COVID restrictions that may apply.