Obie Goes for Gold in Milano Cortina</h1> <article> <h1>Obie Goes for Gold in Milano Cortina</h1> <p>awillia2 — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 21:12:30 +0000</p> <span>Obie Goes for Gold in Milano Cortina</span> <span><span>awillia2</span></span> <span><time datetime="2026-02-05T16:12:30-05:00" title="Thursday, February 5, 2026 - 16:12">Thu, 02/05/2026 - 16:12</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong jscontroller="zYmgkd" jsuid="hD1RY_14" data-processed="true">UPDATE (Feb 18):</strong> <em jscontroller="yHWXO" jsuid="hD1RY_15" data-processed="true">Liz Lemley has won two medals for Team USA in the 2026 Winter Games: gold for women's moguls and bronze for women's dual moguls.</em></p><p>Two years ago, <a href="https://www.usskiandsnowboard.org/athletes/elizabeth-lemley" target="_blank">Liz Lemley</a> suffered a season-ending injury. Today, she’s headed to the XXV Olympic Winter Games.</p><p>A Vail, Colorado, native, Lemley was barely a toddler when she started skiing. She made her debut in the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup at just 15, among the youngest on the circuit. At the 2022 Junior World Championships, she captured gold in moguls and silver in dual moguls. Two years later, she won the gold in dual moguls at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea.</p><p>After that victory, Lemley tore her ACL, forcing her to spend the remainder of the 2024–25 season recovering.</p><p>Just weeks ago, she completed a remarkable comeback, qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The milestone marks her Olympic debut and the first Games to feature dual moguls as an official event. In dual moguls, two freestyle skiers race side by side down a bumpy course, performing aerial tricks off two jumps. </p><p>Lemley was admitted to 91ֱ��’s Class of 2029, but deferred her enrollment until next fall. And even with her focus on the Olympics, she’s eager to begin her college career.</p><p>“I think for most of us, going to college means meeting new people, and that’s no different for me,” she says. “I’m really excited to step outside my bubble and get to know all the different personalities and characters that will be at 91ֱ�� alongside me.”</p><p>Lemley’s 91ֱ�� roots run deep. Her father, Wayne Lemley ’76, is a proud alumnus who studied <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/mathematics" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="5d626c81-d003-4a34-8f7e-e5582513620f" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Mathematics">math</a> and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/physics-and-astronomy" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="d0bfd252-6dab-44ac-9cef-d17de6c98750" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Physics and Astronomy">physics</a>. </p><p>Cheer on Liz as the women’s moguls and dual moguls competitions kick off Tuesday, February 10.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Freestyle skier and incoming first-year student Liz Lemley represents Team USA in her first Olympic Games.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2026-02-06T12:00:00Z">Fri, 02/06/2026 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Danielle Frezza</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4150">Mathematics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4152">Physics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/mathematics" hreflang="und">Mathematics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/physics-and-astronomy" hreflang="und">Physics and Astronomy</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Liz Lemley (far left) with her teammates.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Liz Lemley</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-47857" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-cont-img-section paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <div class="image-grid image-grid--single-caption pull"> <div id="obj-47856" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-image-row paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="image-row"> <div class="image-row__images" data-cols="2"> <div id="obj-47854" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--default"> <figure> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-47855" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--default"> <figure> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="figcaption"> <div class="figure__credit"> Photo credit: Courtesy of Liz Lemley </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>Abby Tejera Rocha ’25 Had an Out-Of-This-World Summer</h1> <p>lcurtis2 — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 15:46:44 +0000</p> <span>Abby Tejera Rocha ’25 Had an Out-Of-This-World Summer</span> <span><span>lcurtis2</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-08-30T11:46:44-04:00" title="Friday, August 30, 2024 - 11:46">Fri, 08/30/2024 - 11:46</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Describe what you’re doing this summer in your internship.</strong></p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>Photo courtesy of Abby Tejera Rocha ’25</figcaption> </figure> <p>This summer I was doing research in the area of astrophysics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as part of the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP). There, I’m a member of the research team called "Cosmic Dawn Group" led by Dr. Anna-Christina Eilers in the Physics Department at MIT.</p> <p>As part of this team, my research focuses on measuring the clustering properties of quasars observed with the Gaia space satellite, in order to study the properties of the dark matter halos that host these luminous quasars across cosmic time. As a brief explanation, my research is mostly about quasars. Galaxies have super massive black holes at their center, and during the time that these grow by accreting matter, such as stars, dust, and gas from their surrounding environment, these galaxies are extremely luminous and we call them quasars. For this research I use data from the Gaia space mission, through the Quaia catalog, which is the largest collection of quasars to date.</p> <p>This research work allows us to know more about objects in our universe such as quasars and the dark matter halos that host them, and allows us to learn about the clustering properties of these objects. In the future and through the data that can be calculated and found from this research, we will be able to understand on what timescales supermassive black holes form and grow.</p> <p><strong>How did 91ֱ�� shape or influence you to pursue this internship? </strong></p> <p>91ֱ�� has opened the doors of knowledge and opportunities throughout my college experience. At 91ֱ��, I had my first research experience in my first year, when I joined <a href="/node/49421">Dr. Jillian Scudder’s</a> lab in the Physics and Astronomy Department, doing research on metallicities in different nearby galaxies. This experience taught me about what it’s like to do research in an academic setting, and it made me realize that I want to continue my academic training in the astrophysics area and continue doing research. This also prepared me to apply to summer research opportunities. In addition, being a student in the <a href="/node/47691">STRONG Program</a> (Science and Technology Research Opportunities for a New Generation) at 91ֱ�� College prepared me to face the responsibilities and challenges that one can encounter in the process of doing science. During the summer of 2023 I had my first research experience outside of 91ֱ��, joining the LIGO Scientific Collaboration under the mentorship of Dr. Gabriela Gonzalez, doing research on gravitational waves. This team was awarded the 2017 Physics Nobel Prize for making the first detection of gravitational waves, proving Einstein’s General Relativity Theory. This research and networking opportunity led to this research team inviting me to continue my research with them which has allowed me to keep on learning from them. Now in the summer of 2024, I was selected to join the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP), and do research in the Physics Department at MIT under the mentorship of Dr. Anna-Christina Eilers. This experience has been amazing and I’ve been able to continue developing my research skills. </p> <p>The academic community of 91ֱ��, the Physics & Astronomy Department, and the Computer Science Department have prepared me and provided me with knowledge to be able to do research and successfully collaborate in teams, making me be able to participate in these experiences that have allowed me to keep on learning, gaining experience, networking, collaborating, and setting my goals for the future.</p> <p><strong>How does pursuing this internship align with your post-college life and career goals?</strong></p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Photo courtesy of Abby Tejera Rocha ’25</figcaption> </figure> <p>During this internship, I’ve been able to do research while also learning about graduate school. I believe that the early experiences and information students like me receive from experiences like this one are important in our motivation and training as future professionals. I want to pursue a PhD and contribute as a researcher while supporting other students that share this dream of becoming a scientist and researcher, in the same way that these great women that I have had the honor of having as mentors have supported me. I want to continue my academic training and work towards achieving greater inclusion, diversity, and equity in STEM, to shorten gaps and make a positive impact in society. As a student in the <a href="/node/55501">Bonner Scholars Program</a> at 91ֱ�� College, where I do community service, I’ve been able to learn that science has to be at others’ service to achieve developed and equitable societies.</p> <p><strong>How has the liberal arts education and way of thinking shaped how you approach science and research?</strong></p> <p>I consider that having a liberal arts education at 91ֱ�� College has prepared me to look at things from different lenses, and this can be really helpful when doing research. When doing research, often we encounter more questions than answers, and our main job is to think of hypotheses and possible ways of finding the answers to our questions. In this process, being able to think of different solutions is key to having more chances of getting to the answer. In my case, I find myself combining my two majors a lot when doing research. I think of code I can write to help me analyze the astrophysical data I have, or tools I can use or develop to make my code faster or more efficient. I also consider that, thanks to having a liberal arts education, I have been able to keep practicing my science communication skills. These are key to making STEM accessible to everyone, and to achieving greater inclusion of minorities in these areas, while also shortening the gender gap in some of these areas, as there’s still lots of work to do towards these goals.</p> <p><em>If you're interested in a summer internship, connect with the <a href="/node/4521">Career Exploration & Development</a> team to learn more about exploring career interests, gaining real-world experience, and developing a professional network.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2024-10-11T12:00:00Z">Fri, 10/11/2024 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Abby Tejera Rocha ’25 is a <a href="/node/472437">physics</a> and <a href="/node/3236">computer science</a> double major, with an astrophysics concentration here at 91ֱ��. This summer, she took her skills up to Massachusetts to do research at MIT. Here, she discusses what led her there, her innovative project, and where she plans to go next.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4096">Summer Internships</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4152">Physics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4153">Computer Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2403">Career Exploration & Development</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/jillian-scudder" hreflang="und">Jillian Scudder</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/physics-and-astronomy" hreflang="und">Physics and Astronomy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/computer-science" hreflang="und">Computer Science</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Abby Tejera Rocha ’25 outside of an MIT building in Cambridge, MA.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">courtesy of Abby Tejera Rocha ’25</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>