2026 College of Science Graduate Award for Outstanding Service

Congratulations to Steward Observatory recent PhD recipient, Sóley Hyman, for winning the 2026 College of Science Graduate Award for Outstanding Service for the Department of Astronomy!  The award is given to outstanding graduate students for their attention to broader impacts and involvement in activities outside of academic responsibilities that benefit the department, university and the larger community.  Her outreach work focuses on sonification of astronomical data to help the blind and low-vision community access astronomy. 

TAP Member and 2026 Graduate Student Research Prize Awardee, Sóley, worked extensively in sonification of astronomical images through the LightSound Project and is the founder of SoniTEA, which conducts sonification for research purposes.  She was also a co-organizer of Tucson's Astronomy on Tap (Space Drafts), graduate student eyepiece observing nights, and graduate student colloquium lunches. 

All the awardees were recognized on April 23, 2026.  Read more about all the awardees across the College of Science.