Kate Follette

Kate Follette serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy at Amherst College, where she bridges observational astronomy with innovative STEM education research to advance both planetary science and quantitative literacy.

Her academic foundation includes:

• PhD in Astronomy from the University of Arizona
• MS in Astronomy from the University of Arizona
• BA in Physics & Japanese Studies from Middlebury College

Dr. Follette's research spans two synergistic domains. In astrophysics, she pioneers direct imaging of young exoplanets and circumstellar disks using adaptive optics on ground-based telescopes, developing techniques to isolate planetary light a million times fainter than host stars and analyze atmospheric properties. Concurrently, her education scholarship investigates how general science courses cultivate real-world quantitative reasoning skills, emphasizing proportional reasoning, order-of-magnitude estimation, and data visualization to combat pseudoscience and misinformation in public discourse. Her methodology integrates hardware innovation with pedagogical design to push technological boundaries toward future Earth-like exoplanet detection while building critical numeracy skills essential for modern citizenship.

Her teaching philosophy centers on developing students' critical thinking through astronomy content, with explicit focus on 'baloney detection' techniques to navigate quantitative misinformation in everyday life.