Catchin' Up With a Cookie: Maile Harris

Maile Harris

I caught a photo with Yale mascot Handsome Dan at graduation.

2018 College Scholar, Yale University

An avid maker, science communicator, and astronomy enthusiast, Maile was inspired to pursue a career in physics because of her love of Star Trek. Throughout her undergrad, she prototyped novel telescope calibration systems in a radio astronomy instrumentation lab at Yale, and worked to increase accessibility of STEM education for young learners by developing planetarium show content and at-home science demonstrations for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Currently, she is a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, contributing solutions to critical security challenges facing the nation. Outside of the lab, Maile can be found ballroom dancing, or in a tree.

What does being a Cooke Scholar mean to you?

Being a Cooke Scholar is being part of a family that loves you and supports you from day one. What strikes me the most is that in any interaction with any Cookie, regardless of if you've known each other for five seconds or five years, they will greet you like you've known each other your whole lives and will be so excited to know you better. It means being embraced for your whole self, celebrated for what you have overcome, and supported through everything you will do next.

Cooke Scholars, and everyone at the Foundation, truly see you and they listen and they understand better than anyone the challenges and triumphs we share and recognize in each other. We are a community that is bonded by our struggles, strengthened by our uniqueness, and united in pursuit of a better world. And we always have each other's backs in pursuit of that dream.

The celebratory photo with my completed thesis!

Tell us about a memorable moment in undergrad or graduate school.

Operation Midnight Squash! It was October of my freshman year. The air was brisk and the trees were bare. Campus was silent that night as I trudged home from a late physics pset session, the only sound my footsteps echoing on the cobblestones.

Decorations from the recent Fall Fest celebration dotted Cross Campus, save one notable exception. The day before, the sprawling lawn in front of the library had been filled with pumpkins and decorative gourds. Where had they all gone?

Surely they must have been stashed somewhere, surely they could be put to better use than for a single event...this merited some investigation....

I backtracked, peered down darkened alleys between dorms, scaled walls and skulked through the gardens until, lo and behold, I stumbled upon the motherlode! Tucked deep into the shadows, guarded by dense shrubbery, an iron gate, and a stone wall, a mountain of pumpkins beckoned, begging to be carved, illuminated, loved! There was only one thing to be done.

"How do you feel about a late night squash heist?" I excitedly whispered into my phone. "Whaaa?" came the groggy reply. It was after midnight, and I'd awoken my newest friend from much needed slumber, but this opportunity was just too good to resist – we had bonded over wishing for an opportunity for some good old fashioned pumpkin carving. "How do you feel about a late night squash heist?" I repeated, and after relaying my spontaneous adventure, they agreed to come meet me where I was lurking in the bushes.

At this point, I was expecting we would each carry off one or two pumpkins, a small unnoticeable dent in the great orange heap. How wrong I was. My friend not only climbed out of bed, but assembled a whole team of co-conspirators to aid in the most epic pumpkin heist in Yale history!

Out of the darkness they emerged, wearing black trench coats, headlamps, even a GoPro to document the momentous occasion! And they would not be content with any mere squash. No, together we were determined to carry off the crown jewel, the centerpiece of the autumnal display, the singular giant pumpkin! Together we rolled it up the deserted New Haven streets, parked it in the courtyard of our dorm for all to behold, and carved into it an iconic campus landmark to shine out into the darkness. It was at this moment that I knew I had met the people who would become my lifelong best friends and compatriots in all future shenanigans.

Cookie Amal Altareb and I on our graduation day!

What is ONE THING YOU DID TO HELP TRANSITION TO YOUR FIRST YEAR OUT OF COLLEGE?

I'm still figuring that out! I'm less than a year out of college, and my decision to jump right into working full time after graduation has been both an adventure and a challenge. Suddenly having full control over my time is incredibly liberating, but also surprisingly daunting. What does one do with free time? What even is free time?

After so many years of scrambling to fill every moment with school and homework and extracurriculars, the stillness is quite foreign.

I've found it difficult relying on interactions with coworkers to find a sense of meaningful social connection, especially because I am so much younger than many of my colleagues. Staying connected to the people and activities that were most fulfilling in college have helped me to stay grounded.

Even though my best friends are scattered all over the country and the world now, we make an effort to call each other every few weeks to share updates about our lives, and hearing their voices makes a huge impact. It is comforting to know that we are all going through the same transition together, and we serve as each others' support system: my college friends know me better than anyone, and they know how to encourage me to jump out of my comfort zone and explore, and hold me accountable to having adventures!

Case in point: visiting the local alpaca fleece and wool festival made for both a great weekend, and a great story to tell the next time we reconnected!

What was the last book you read, movie/show you watched, or podcast you listened to that you really enjoyed and highly recommended?

This photo was taken during my first Scholars Weekend five years ago!

I am currently reading A Magical World by Derek K. Wilson, a journey through Renaissance Europe that explores the interdependence of science and religion and how they reciprocally shaped each other into the entities we recognize today. I am fascinated by the history of science, and understanding the geopolitical, cultural, and economic drivers of the formation of scientific inquiry can inform so much of the growth and challenges faced by the scientific community today. From an even broader perspective, the deep philosophical debates early modern thinkers were having were so fundamental to the development of our modern society, that this history helps to contextualize many of the profound social changes we navigate today. Plus, this history is told through contemporary understanding of alchemy, prognostication, and sorcery – what's not to love!

If you were to create your own cookie, what would it consist of and what name would you give it?

I love the doughy gooeyness of a fresh chocolate chip cookie, but also the toffee-nuttiness of almond lace cookies, and of course the dark chocolate. Maile's Miracle Cookie would infuse the warm chewy doughy base of a chocolate chip cookie with chunks of chocolate-dipped lace cookies for that extra bit of nutty complexity and caramelized vanilla crunch, and then finished in a smoker for a gentle hint of campfire. I think I'll go experiment in the kitchen now...