IB graduate profile - Gabriella Turek

Graduated from Lycée International de Saint Germain en Laye, France in 1978.

"I graduated in 1978 from the Lycee International de Saint Germain en Laye (near Paris, France). I am originally from Trieste, Italy. I went to college at the University of Texas at Austin, where I earned a BA in astronomy and a BS in mathematics. I then earned my Master's degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1987. I got a Ph.D in underwater acoustics from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta in 1994. After that, I did a post-doc at UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

I then left the scientific field for software engineering, and I am now a senior software engineer at Caltech, at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. I am currently working on two missions, SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility) and the Herschel Space Observatory.

I love to travel, particularly in Polynesia, the South Pacific, and New Zealand. I am involved with animal rescue (specifically guinea pigs) and have four of my own. I am very concerned with the environment, human rights, animal rights, globalization, and peace, and I participate in a lot of online activism. I love scuba diving, spelunking, and sailing. Books, music, and movies are still my passion as well. For more information, visit my website, www.chimere.org."