Bard Alumna Jacinta Creel Vallejo ’24 to Receive Higgs Scholarship and Attend University of Edinburgh for MSc

Jacinta Creel Vallejo ’24, a Bard alumna who majored in physics and philosophy, has been accepted to the University of Edinburgh for an MSc in Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences. She has also received the Higgs Scholarship, awarded by the university’s School of Physics and Astronomy on the basis of academic merit. Creel Vallejo, who developed an interest in the field while working on her Bard SPROJ project with physicist Clara Sousa Silva, chose Edinburgh for its interdisciplinary approach. Creel Vallejo is particularly interested in how scientists can infer life on distant worlds from inherently incomplete data. “My ambition is to investigate the limits of biosignature detection by combining observational modelling with laboratory simulation of abiotic false positives, sharpening the criteria by which a detection claim can be trusted,” she said. 

The Bard Physics Program is dedicated to helping students at all levels gain a better understanding of the universe and how it works.

Post Date: 07-15-2026