Maya Fishbach - Global Excellence Initiative

Maya Fishbach, a leader in the emerging field of multi-messenger astronomy, is helping to bridge the fields of gravitational- and astrophysics. An assistant professor with the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) at the University of Toronto, Dr. Fishbach is advancing a new area of research that draws on observations of both gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation.

“The specific field of gravitational wave astronomy that I work on is still in its infancy, so we don’t even really know what it’s going to teach us about the universe,” she explains. “People often compare this moment that we’re in now in gravitational wave astronomy with when Galileo first turned a telescope to the sky, and we didn’t really know what was out there beyond our planet, beyond our solar system, beyond our galaxy.”

Dr. Fishbach says her research, which involves listening to gravitational waves to better understand the black holes they come from, reflects “a very human curiosity that people have about what is out there,” beyond what is immediately in front of us. It’s about learning as much as we can about the universe.

The astrophysicist’s work has been recognized with a 2024 Sloan Research Fellowship.

Dr. Fishbach came to focus on this particular field during the first year of her PhD in astrophysics, when gravitational waves were detected for the first time. “That really revolutionized the whole field of physics and astronomy, and also obviously my career, because I decided to go into this exciting new field.”

She says winning the Sloan Fellowship is a “huge honour” — both as a recognition of the work that she has done and the potential that the review committee sees in her research.

“It’s amazing to be among this cohort of people who have won it in the past,” she says, including many researchers she admires and respects.

“It feels really nice to be among them and to be part of this community.”