Canadian astrophysicist Louise Edwards is used to answering some of the universe’s toughest questions. But at the moment she’s trying to answer this one: How many Canadian Black astronomers does she know?

Edwards, an associate professor in California Polytechnic State University’s physics department, is on a Zoom call with CBC while sitting in a friend’s brightly lit shed near her home in Berkeley, Calif. 

Mulling the question, she turns her head to the right, facing white wood-panelled walls. She’s thinking hard.

“Ummm,” she says, looking off into the distance. “There are definitely a few new grad students that I know of.”

She pauses and smiles. “I know some physicists. And some