Jessica A. Harris

Jessica A. Harris is an astrophysicist, science communicator, consultant, and is well known as Auntie Jess, a coach and mentor to Black and Brown students in STEM. She is the owner and founder of Jessica A. Harris, LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in the areas of education and outreach, diversity, equity and inclusion, and mentoring through Auntie Jess programming. She is also certified as an Adult Mental Health First Aid Instructor. Her mission is to inspire, empower, and support Black and Brown students to not just survive but to THRIVE in STEM.

Formerly, Harris supported students as the Education Outreach Specialist and Director of the Space Astronomy Summer Program (SASP) at the Space Telescope Science Institute, and she led public advocacy initiatives at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) as the STEAM Education Program Development Officer and site lead for the National Astronomy Consortium (NAC). Most recently, she was the Program Director for the Clark Scholars Program at the University of Virginia (UVA) in the Engineering School in Charlottesville. Harris earned her BS in physics from Grambling State University, and her MA in physics from Fisk University.