Associate Professor of Physics Nathalie Hauberg ’06 graduated from Knox with a degree in physics and continued research as an astronomer at the University of Indiana. She returned to Knox as a
professor in 2013 to help build Knox’s astronomy program. “I was brought back by my love for Knox. I wanted to teach at a small liberal arts school,” Hauberg said. She moved into her office in 2013, where she now spends her time designing astronomy classes, advising students, and overseeing operations of the Knox observatory.

Welcome to her office.

Dinosaur Telephone

It’s an old touch tone telephone from the 1980s, I believe. The back of the dinosaur picks up and works as the handset. Underneath the rock is the dial pad. When it rings, it roars. The skeleton riding it is just an accessory that’s been added for fun.

Cat astronaut painting

This painting was given to me by some of my students. They thought that it represented me because I’m really into cats and really into space.

Rodent Figures

These little guys were gifts to me. One of them was from a friend and the other from my husband. They are cute little things to remind me that the world’s not so bad after all.

Planisphere Disc

I got this planisphere disc in the ’80s when I was maybe eight years old from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. I've had it ever since. It shows you what the planets and the stars look like at night. I still use it as a demonstration in class.

Astronomy-themed tokens

These are tokens that I 3D printed for my class. Each student gets three. I have a system in my class that if you miss an activity or if you hand something in a couple of days late, you can get it for “free” if you hand in a token.

Student Paintings and Photographs

In one of my introductory astronomy classes, there’s a project where you have to use what you learn creatively, such as a painting. One of my students made a set of paintings to represent Doppler shift and, at the end of the term, left both with me. There are other paintings students have made and given to me, along with photographs they have taken during their studies.

Cartoon Periodic Table Chart

This was a gift from my parents, and I think it’s really cute. I like cartoons and I didn’t have a periodic table in my office, so they got this for me for Christmas one year. It's got a lot of cute references to the names and some cartoons that have to do with the names of the elements. I like the one with the cat in scanning goggles.