Jocelyn Read is an astrophysicist who studies neutron stars — the remnant cores of dead stars that didn't quite have enough mass to end up as black holes. A leading binary neutron star expert, she focuses on how matter behaves at the extremely high densities inside neutron stars and how this might be measured from astronomical observations of X-rays, gamma-ray bursts and gravitational waves. 

She and her students work to understand and model how neutron stars interact, collide and radiate energy to learn more about their structure and composition. 

Read joined Cal State Fullerton in 2012 and has received numerous grants for her research. Most recently, she was awarded nearly $1 million from the National Science Foundation to lead a project to recruit and support underrepresented students, in particular Latino students, in gravitational-wave science. The grant supports CSUF and Citrus College students engaged in undergraduate research, as well as CSUF alumni in the doctoral program in gravitational-wave astrophysics at Syracuse University.

A native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Read earned her doctorate in physics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She completed postdoctoral work at the Albert Einstein Institute in Germany and at the University of Mississippi. 

Read, a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, serves as associate director of CSUF's Gravitational-Wave Physics and Astronomy Center. She is the recipient of the 2017 "Women of the Year" award in the category of science and technology from state Sen. Josh Newman. 

For additional CSUF materials and resources, please visit these websites:
•	CSUF News Center: http://news.fullerton.edu
•	CSUF Gravitational-Wave Physics and Astronomy Center: http://physics.fullerton.edu/gwpac/
•	CSUF Scientists Contribute to First Discovery: http://news.fullerton.edu/gravitational-waves/default.aspx