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If you’re a frequent visitor to the Evergreen Valley College’s Montgomery Hill Observatory, you may already be aware of Nargis Adham. As the Outreach manager for EVC’s Astronomy Department, Nargis helps organize monthly Astronomy talks that are open to the public and followed by stargazing events at Montgomery Hill Observatory.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Nargis Adham is a physicist by training and a stargazer by inclination. Growing up in Pakistan, she recalls, was different from here. “There, you just step out of the house and start playing with neighborhood kids.. There, at four or five o’clock, you would always hear kids playing outside.”
Nargis’ father, Muhammad Hamid Kamal, is a retired professor of Urdu literature. Her mother, Tanveer Fatima, was a former teacher who became a homemaker and stay-at-home mother to four children. Nargis was the eldest, followed by two sisters and a brother.
Even as a child, she was always curious to know how things work. In elementary school, science was her favorite subject. Her specific interest in physics was sparked in the ninth grade.
Physics was a tenth grade subject. As a ninth-grader she was fascinated by the students working in the physics lab. During her breaks, she would observe them and look forward to taking the subject herself.
“Physics tells you how things work in this world,” she says. “When you learn physics, you learn how the system is working. You can learn about the universe.”
Nargis earned a master’s degree in physics from the University of Karachi. She also followed in her parents’ footsteps, becoming an educator.
Nargis’ husband, Muzzammil Adham, grew up in the same city as Nargis. Muzzammil traveled to the United States for Higher education,, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Texas State University, San Marcos. Nargis and Muzzammil married in Pakistan, then came to the States together to make a life for themselves.
After living in California for over an year, the family moved to Michigan, where Nargis earned a second Master’s in physics from Eastern Michigan University. Her field of study was Space Physics with specialization in Plasma Physics, which is the study of charged gas particles interacting with electric and magnetic fields.
For her thesis work, she spent two summers conducting experiments at HAARP (the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program), an ionospheric research program in Alaska. Nargis by then was a mother to four children of her own. Fortunately, her parents had moved to the States in 2000 and were living in California. “My mother stayed with my children. That’s what enabled me to go.”
The experiments for Nargis’ thesis involved using the high-powered radio transmitter at HAARP to shoot radio waves into the ionosphere—the top level of Earth’s atmosphere, where plasma exists—and measuring the resultant effects. In addition to its theoretical applications, this type of active research “can be used for defense and civil purposes, mostly related to communication and navigation transmission systems, like GPS.”
Nargis completed her master’s in 2010. She taught at Macomb Community College in Michigan until the family moved to back to California in 2011. Muzzammil accepted a job at eBay’s local office and they settled in Evergreen.
Evergreen is a good area for them, she says. Her siblings all live within short driving distance as does her father. Sadly, Nargis’ mother passed away this April, an acute loss. “She was my best friend, so it’s like I lost two people in one.”
In some ways, the loss has inspired Nargis to take more joy in her remaining family. They loves to get together as often as possible and just eat and talk.
Two of her sons are almost out of the nest. Gibran, the eldest, is a sophomore at San Jose State, studying software engineering. Imran is a freshman at UC Santa Barbara currently studying electrical engineering. Though all of her kids like Math to some extent, “Imran “is my kid who likes physics and Math like me.”
The two youngest boys, twins Ali and Bilal are in eighth grade at Chaboya middle school and will eventually go to EVHS just like their elder brothers. They participate in the band like their elder brother Imran, playing trumpet and trombone respectively.
After returning to the Bay Area, Nargis took a break from teaching. She became the outreach person for Evergreen High School’s PTSA, helping spread the word about resources for students and parent-teacher events. She also fulfilled a lifelong dream by volunteering for NASA.
She volunteered as a docent, walking visiting groups of middle and high school students and general public through exhibits and demonstrations. She also met NASA researcher Dr. Chris McKay and became involved with the lunar plant growth experiment, a project that will send seeds to the moon in a self-contained habitat to see how or whether they grow.
Now, in addition to her outreach work, she’s returned to teaching as an adjunct professor at San Jose City College, San Francisco State University, Evergreen College, West Valley College, and Chabot College. Eventually, she plans to become a student again herself and earn a PhD in Astrophysics.
“I like both teaching and research. It’s really hard to do both. I really appreciate the support of my husband which enables me to earn Master’s Degree and continue to teach in all those colleges and pursue my work. My children are also very supportive with my busy schedule.”
For now, though, Nargis is happy teaching. “At Evergreen College, the stargazing program is to promote science in the community. When the kids come, they get so excited; ask so many questions, it makes me feel like my work has paid off when students want to learn science. We encourage everyone, kids and adults alike, to learn so people know what’s going on here, in this world—although we have to learn more,” she says.
“We all want to live a long life so we can know what around us and what happens in this vast universe, so we can explore and unfold mysteries of our universe. That’s what it’s all about.”
Five Things You May Not Know About Nargis Adham
1. Her love of Astronomy translates to a love of places like Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico landscapes with interesting rock formations. “It’s almost like being on Mars.”
2. She’s also interested in archaeology, and is particularly fascinated by an archaeological site in Pakistan called Mohenjo-daro (which translates to “Mound of the Dead Men”).
3. Her father, Muhammad Hamid Kamal, just published his first collection of poetry. The book’s title doesn’t have a direct translation from Urdu, but refers to the first sound a child makes and the first time a child starts to write.
4. Though her parents were more connected to liberal arts—literature and political science—Nargis, her sisters, and brother all gravitated to the sciences. “But we like poetry too!”
5. She credits her parent for inspiring her to explore her curiosity.
For more information about the stargazing program visit their website, evc-cit.info/astronews/ or email Nargis directly at [email protected].
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