LUMA

Peer mentoring community for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx women in astronomy and related fields.

What We Believe In

LUMA’s goal is to provide a safe, supportive virtual community where you belong and can shine.

Who We Are

The League of Underrepresented Minoritized Astronomers (LUMA) is a peer mentoring community for Black/Indigenous/Latinx women who are graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and research scientists in physics, astronomy, and planetary science. LUMA was founded in 2015 by Prof. Catherine Espaillat, who also serves as LUMA Director. Jacqueline Antwi-Danso is the LUMA Coordinator and Junellie Gonzalez Quiles is the assistant coordinator.

What We Do

LUMA-lites are diverse, multi-faceted people, with their own personal needs, schedules, and goals. We work to provide our members with several different channels of support and connection that vary in cadence and in level of commitment. We offer a “choose your own adventure” format, where members can opt in to whatever LUMA programming fits their needs most. Click the button below to learn more about the main programs we offer at this time, with new opportunities and programming on the horizon.

Learn More

100

Members
5

Countries
63

Institutions and Organizations
7

Years

Testimonials

“When I joined LUMA as a postdoc, I was feeling burnt-out in my research and unsure of where I wanted to go with my work. I attended a workshop that was open to LUMA members which addressed how to be kind to your brain and work through times where research feels impossible. After this I signed up for the writing circles and found the accountability and comradery to be exactly what I needed to find my place in academy. In fact, I credit my most recent publication to these writing circles.”

Erin Cox
CIERA Postdoctoral Associate
Northwestern University
“LUMA has been my homebase in academia where I've been able to focus on thriving, both academically and holistically. I was lucky enough to be connected with other wonderful grad student LUMA-lites (as well as postdocs and faculty who further illuminated our future paths) who showed me that I was not out of place in astronomy at all -- in fact, I was right at home. The support and community in LUMA has been life changing and everytime I run into a LUMA-lite at a conference or talk I am filled with joy.”

Diana Powell
NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow
Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics