Meet Dr. Renée Hložek.

She's an astrophysicist, cosmologist, professor, and bridge-builder.

From studying the universe’s earliest light to its possible ending, to applying astronomy techniques to brain imaging, Renée spends her days asking some of the biggest questions imaginable, and making sure more people get the chance to ask them too.

As a young girl growing up in South Africa, Renée's mother wasn’t concerned with perfect grades. Instead, she supported Renée with whatever she set her mind to. Only limited by her imagination.

That encouragement gave Renée permission to be curious before she knew exactly where that curiosity would lead. Today, it shapes how she mentors the next generation of scientists.

This is a conversation about dark matter, the fate of the universe, why uncertainty is one of science's greatest strengths, and how curiosity, not accolades, is what makes someone a scientist.

What Renée wants you to know:

“A lot of the time we have doubt about am I good enough, brave enough, strong enough, smart enough to be a scientist. And a lot of people will tell you a lot of things about being a scientist: ‘you’re a girl’ or ‘you’re not confident enough’ or ‘loud enough’. And to me, I would say, the thing to remember is, being curious about how the world works makes you a scientist.”

Rapid fire:

• A cosmic fact that sounds fake but is actually true: “I can tell you the fate of the universe after about 10⁻³⁷ seconds in its lifetime.”
  
  
• The most underrated object in the universe: Photons
  
  
• One person that has made her braver: A high school teacher who didn’t let her wiggle out of doing something, but pushed her to see her own capacity.

Going beyond the episode:

• Renée on LinkedIn

For all resources and links mentioned in this episode, read the full guide here: https://www.alphapodcast.studio/renee-hlozek

With gratitude to the organizations whose archival materials and recordings helped bring alpha to life:

• New Mexico PBS, Critical Mass: Women in Science (audio)
• NASA Image & Video Library
• American Archive of Public Broadcasting