Natalia Lewandowska has always been fascinated by the night sky. 

Now, she is living out her dreams as an associate professor of physics and as the director of SUNY Oswego’s planetarium.

Growing up in Poland and Germany, Lewandowska was always curious. Her first memory of space was turning on the television as a five-year-old and seeing a documentary about the Voyager probes, Venus and Earth. Later, when she maxed out the telescope her parents gave her for Christmas, she got a job selling newspapers and then became a supermarket cashier to save up for a better one. 

“I’ve been constantly working since I was ten or eleven,” Lewandowski said.

Her experiences in school were not easy. Her masters and doctorate degrees took long hours of study, and the learning curves of math and physics were daunting. She struggled as a student but was dedicated and tried every opportunity that came her way. 

While studying at the University of Hamburg, she applied to be a research assistant at the Hamburg Observatory. She got rejected, but she was still determined to get a job there. Her persistence paid off when another researcher agreed to take her in as an assistant.

That ability to persevere guided Lewandowska through long research stints, such as a thesis project spending months in Greece, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Green Bank Observatory stateside. These periods also led her developing interests in outreach, education and travel in addition to research. She was a researcher at West Virginia University before she became an educator with stints at Haverford College and Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, which led her to Oswego.

In her planetarium shows, Lewandowska makes it a point of pride to know not just concepts and ideas, but also the history behind the discoveries. Often, these discoveries were made by female astronomers and scientists who were not recognized for their contributions. Recently, she has featured the contributions of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Henrietta Swan Levitt, Vera Rubin and Sandra Faber. 

Lewandowska believes that talent can come from anywhere, especially overlooked and underrepresented communities, and uses this belief to guide her students. 

“Reach for the stars on your terms. Nothing’s free, but do accept help. Everyone deserves their fair chance,” she said.

In closing, Lewandowska said, “those who aren’t accomplished have the loudest voices. Make sure that you can be heard, and be louder than them.” Lewandowska’s planetarium shows are free and open to the public on Tuesdays and Fridays at 6 p.m. on the second floor of the Shineman Center. For more information, email natalia.lewandowska@oswego.edu or check the SUNY Oswego’s event calendar at calendar.oswego.edu.

Photo by: Bryan Santiago