Astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance: ‘I’ll probably always live with impostor syndrome’

The Egyptian-American scientist on falling in love with the stars, the problems faced by women of colour in her field, and her preventive double mastectomy

Egyptian-American astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance's debut memoir, Starstruck, offers a window on what it is like growing up to be a scientist today as a woman of colour. Nance, 30, is a passionate communicator of cosmology, and an advocate for women's health, after a preventive double mastectomy. The book intertwines her personal story with explanations of what we know about the universe. Nance is completing her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is studying exploding stars or supernovae.

Isn't this a young age to be writing a memoir? You still have so much of your personal and professional life ahead of you.
It is, but I don't think it means it isn't the right time. It is immensely challenging and scarring to push through educational systems and institutions built for straight white men. There is a value in sharing my experience now. My hope is the book resonates with other young women, but also anyone who has felt othered or sought to belong. It is also for anyone curious about the cosmos.