September 2022

Student Profile

PhD Candidate

 

Physics Department

 

 

Advisor

Dave Meier

Tierra Candelaria earned her B.S from the College of Idaho (C of I) in Math/Physics with minors in art history, criminal justice, and chemistry in 2015. During her time at C of I she participated in extensive research in astrophysics working with Dr. Katie Devine from C of I and participating in two REUs at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. After receiving her B.S. she began graduate school in physics at New Mexico Tech. While her studies were physics dominant, her research and dissertation focus is in astrophysics. She participates in research with the Survey for Water and Ammonia in the Galactic center (SWAG) team to better understand the Galactic center and its physical conditions using ammonia (NH3).

Tierra's research and dissertation focus is in astrophysics working with Dr. David Meier. 

 

She has had the ability to submit (and have accepted) multiple telescope proposals. With one accepted proposal, as PI, Tierra had the opportunity to remotely run the observations on the Green Bank Telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. This data has been reduced, calibrated and analyzed and the paper is expected to be submitted within the next month. After passing her candidacy in the spring of 2020, she received a Grote Reber Fellowship from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and plans to graduate by Spring 2023. 

 

Tierra has participated in outreach work throughout her time at Tech. She began working with Dr. Sharon Session to help start MATCH mentoring program that pairs NMT students with 3rd graders at Parkview Elementary and focuses on reading literacy. She participated in this program for 4 years and has mentored over 60 students throughout her time with the program. This year, she is taking a leadership role in coordinating all of the logistics of the program with Theresa Apodaca, in addition to engaging in various other outreach aspects with the STEM Outreach Office. She continues to engage in various outreach aspects with the Department of Outreach. 

 

In addition to her outreach work, Tierra has also been an active alum of the National Astronomy Consortium (NAC), a program aimed at increasing the number of PhDs earned by underrepresented minors in physics and astronomy. She participated in the REU for two years in undergrad before continuing her support to the program by leading summer REUs for 3 years, including two years of virtual programs during the pandemic. With this program she has also co-chaired the organizing committee for two annual NAC conferences. Tierra completed her fourth year with NAC during the summer of 2022.

 

Tierra likes to spend her time outside the office running, hiking, doing yoga, weightlifting and has recently picked up golfing. She also spends time wrangling her three cats and tutoring for calculus II and III. 

Degree Completion and Thesis Formatting Workshop

The workshop was held on September 14th and we went over the process of completing the degree including committee formation, course plan and various forms. A good portion was over thesis/dissertation formatting requirements and an introduction to Latex. The recording and slides are available on the website. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or suggestions.

Graduate Student BBQ

The Fall 2022 Semester Graduate Student BBQ was held on September 22nd, 2022. Graduate students, Staff, Faculty and Administration attended and it was a beautiful day to be outside. Thank you to all that showed up and to all the GSA officers that made the event possible.

10/7

Graduate Student Association Council Meeting

In MSEC 101 3-4pm. 

10/12

Midterms, Intent to Graduate & Course Plans

If you are planning to graduate in May you need to turn in your intent to graduate and have an approved course plan by midterms. This is extremely important so we can make sure you are not missing anything as you head into your last semester for your degree.

11/15

Completion paperwork for Fall graduation

If you are planning to graduate in December the completed report of the advisory committee, iThenticate report from academic advisor, and ProQuest submission of the final thesis/dissertation must be submitted to and accepted by the Center for Graduate Studies or one final copy of an accepted independent study paper must be submitted to the student’s advisor and advisory committee. Please refer to the Completion Guideline on the CGS website.

 

Student degrees are not complete until final materials have been approved by the Center for Graduate Studies and the student receives final acceptance via email from the ProQuest system. 

There are some Endowed scholarship opportunities open to graduate students, which are listed here on the Endowed Scholarship website. Native American graduate students should contact the Financial Aid Office for information for additional scholarship opportunities (financial_aid@nmt.edu).

President

Vice President

Information Officer

Appropriations Officer

 

Grants Officer

Events Officer

Admission & Student Success

AA Technology Support & Data Analytics

Dean of Graduate Studies

We love to hear from you

https://www.nmt.edu/gradstudies

Fidel Center - Room 275

Tel: (575) 835-5513