Amy Miller

Amy was born and raised in Wyoming, USA. She got her Bachelors of Physics and Astronomy from the University of Wyoming and Masters of Physics from Montana State University. She is currently a joint astrophysics PhD student at Macquarie University and the Leibniz Institute of Astrophysics Potsdam, in Germany. She studies young stellar populations in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two nearby galaxies.

Ángel R. López-Sánchez

Ángel R. López-Sánchez is an astronomer and science communicator working at the Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) and the School of Mathematics and Physical Sciences at Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia). He is a recognised expert in the study of how the gas is converted into stars in galaxies and how this affects galaxy evolution. He is also an active member in large spectroscopic galaxy surveys and upcoming optical and radio galaxy surveys. Part of his job is to provide observational support at the Anglo-Australian Telescope, for which he is responsible for one of its scientific instruments. He is the president of the Spanish Researcher in Australia-Pacific (SRAP) association, being one of its founding members, and actively participates in RAICEX (the Network of Associations of Spanish Researchers and Scientists working abroad) in the commissions of Science Communication and Science Diplomacy. He is a globally-recognised science communicator, with visibility in Spanish and Australian printed, broadcast, and social media. He also is a passionate amateur astronomer that uses his own equipment for capturing the beauty of the Cosmos. His astronomy timelapse videos have received 1/4 million views in YouTube and have been used b y ABC, BBC, TVE (Spain), US TV channels, and in Science Museums worldwide.

Beth Cappellazzo

Beth Cappellazzo is a proud Wiradjuri woman who is currently studying the Bachelor of Philosophy/Master of Research in Physics & Astronomy at Macquarie University. Before starting her science studies, she completed a film degree and ran a video production business, producing short films, documentaries and corporate videos.She finished the Bachelor of Science (Astronomy & Astrophysics) at Macquarie University in 2021. During her studies she completed vacation studentships with Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) and CSIRO Space & Astronomy. Her current astronomical and research interests include radio interferometry, magnetars and machine learning.

Caro Derkenne

Caro is a PhD student at Macquarie University. She uses the world’s largest telescopes to study the motion and dynamics of galaxies, looking back over 4 billion years into the history of the Universe.

Celine Boehm

Professor Celine Boehm is an Astroparticle physicist who is currently the Head of School of Physics at the University of Sydney and former head of the space mission consortium ESA/Theia. She worked at renowned Universities in the UK, France (CNRS), Switzerland (CERN), Canada (Perimeter institute) and now Australia (USYD). In total she has written more than 100 papers that have attracted over 7600 citations thus far and has collaborators all over the world. Her work is the cornerstone of modern dark matter experiments and, as such, she is a CI of the ARC Centre of Excellence (CoEDM). She has also made significant contributions to science communication, and run science engagement activities across Europe.

Daniel Terno

Danny was born and grew up in Latvia, which was then a part of the USSR. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Technion in Haifa, Israel. While a postdoctoral researcher at the Perimeter Institute in Canada (2003-2006) Danny began his ongoing affair with black holes and quantum gravity. Danny joined Macquarie University in Sydney in 2007, and currently he is an Associate Professor in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and a member of both the Centre for Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics (MQAAAstro) and the Centre for Quantum Engineering (MQ CQE). Apart from physics, Danny's hobbies include sport, reading, art and travelling.

Daniel Zucker

Daniel Zucker is an Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Macquarie University. Born in the US, he received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle. He came to Australia in 2009 as a joint Macquarie University and Australian Astronomical Observatory Lecturer, and soon after arriving helped launch the GALAH survey, a project to measure the compositions of a million stars in our Galaxy. In 2011 he was awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship to study how galaxies like the Milky Way grow through absorbing stars from their small satellites. More recently, he co-founded the S5 survey, an international collaboration to map stellar streams in the outskirts of our Galaxy with the Anglo-Australian Telescope in Coonabarabran, NSW, and the focus of this talk.

David Adams

Dr. Dave Adams is a mechanical engineer at AAO-Macquarie.

Devika Kamath

Dr. Devika Kamath is a Stellar Astrophysicist and a Senior Lecturer in Astronomy & Astrophysics at Macquarie University. She is internationally recognised for her work on observational studies of dying stars. She was awarded the prestigious ARC DECRA fellowship in 2019 to tackle a long-standing question in astrophysics: ‘How are chemical elements in the Universe produced?’. She is also a 2020-2021 Superstar of STEM and the recipient of a 2021 NSW Young Tall Poppy Award. Dr Kamath is a highly vigorous leader and communicator in STEM outreach who uses her work and broad astronomical knowledge to encourage more young people into STEM careers. As a child, her evenings included spending hours with her grandfather, pretending to navigate through oceans using the night sky, a sextant, and a telescope. Fascinated by stars, she decided to become an astronomer at the age of 13.

Ellen Houston

Ellen (She/Her) completed her Bachelor of Science (Astronomy and Astrophysics) at Macquarie University in 2018 as a mature age student who wanted an exciting career change and to rediscover her childhood love of the universe; She is now a Fibre Wrangler (Optical Engineer) at Australian Astronomical Optics, a department within Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science. She has helped construct fibre-based positioners for the AESOP instrument (soon to be installed on the ESO VISTA Telescope), as well as fibre feeds for the HECTOR instrument installed on the AAT, Local Volume Mapper for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and MANIFEST instrument for the Giant Magellan Telescope. Ellen is passionate about inspiring the next generation of women in Astronomy. She is also a member of the AAO Equity and Diversity committee, and a member of the MQ Ally Network. Her investment in the world of fibre is so great, that In her free time, she enjoys other fibre-based hobbies, and is what people have referred to as a knitter of prolific proportions.

Fred Watson

Fred Watson is Australia’s first Astronomer-at-Large in the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, having worked at both of Britain’s Royal Observatories before joining the Australian Astronomical Observatory as Astronomer-in-Charge in 1995. Recognised internationally for helping to pioneer the use of fibre optics in astronomy during the 1980s, Fred is best known today for his award-winning radio and TV broadcasts, books, music, dark-sky advocacy and co-hosting the Space Nuts podcast. In 2003, he received the David Allen Prize for communicating astronomy to the public, and in 2006 was the winner of the Australian Government Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science. In January 2010, Fred was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to astronomy, particularly the promotion and popularisation of space science through public outreach. Fred's books include "Stargazer - the Life and Times of the Telescope", "Why is Uranus Upside Down? - and Other Questions About the Universe” (which won the 2008 Queensland Premier's Literary Prize for Science Writing) and "Star-Craving Mad - Tales from a Travelling Astronomer”, featuring highlights from his science tours around the world. HIs most recent books are “Cosmic Chronicles - a user’s guide to the Universe”, and “Spacewarp - Doomsday Comets and other Cosmic Catastrophes”, aimed at the 10+ age group. Fred has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson), but says that if it hits the Earth, it won't be his fault...

Jo Dawson

Jo Dawson is a senior lecturer at Macquarie University and a research scientist at the CSIRO's Space & Astronomy division, where she works with Australia's national fleet of radio telescopes. Born and raised in the UK, her work has taken her to Japan and now to Australia, where she studies how the gas in galaxies gives birth to stars.

Julia Wilks

Julia Wilks is a graduate in Biology and Astrophysics with a passion for planetary astronomy who loves teaching the public about our neighbouring planets and their potential for life.

Kristina Kopychynski

Kristina Kopychynski is a Master of Research student in science education with a passion for astronomy outreach. She works as a sessional academic and in data quality. She enjoys bushwalking, expanding card collections, and drawing in her free time.

Marnie Ogg

With a 30 year history in tourism that includes Ansett, Flight Centre, Australian Pacific Tours, and several years with her own eco-based tourism business, Marnie returned from an astrotourism event in Europe, when she realised how truly special the Australian dark night sky is. Understanding that this natural asset needs to be preserved, she set about designating the Warrumbungle National Park as Australia’s first Dark Sky Place. Managing Sydney Observatory and Founding the Australasian Dark Sky Alliance, has seen her receive two International Dark Sky Defender awards for her personal and board efforts, and conceiving and producing a Guinness World Record attempt with over 11,500 participants, has strengthened her commitment to creating inspirational places and experiences for human connection in the world, both day and night. Recently, her work consulting on dark sky place creation in Milparinka, Wentworth, Palm Beach and the Blue Mountains has seen dark sky place-making suitable for designation with the International Dark-Sky Association or simply to draw people more generally to the night sky in remote, regional and urban places.

Matt Owers

Matt Owers has worked as an astronomer at Macquarie University since 2015. He obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Wollongong in 2003 (B.Sc., Advanced Physics, hons. class I) and a Ph.D from the University of New South Wales. His research focusses on understanding why galaxies look the way they do, with emphasis on understanding how the surrounding environment of a galaxy affects its properties.

Rami Mandow

Rami Mandow is a Masters Student with Macquarie University and the CSIRO, working with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA) project. His team use Australia’s iconic Dish to observe pulsars over the long term, learning about each of them individually, whilst also using all of them collectively to hunt for gravitational waves, generated by merging and colliding supermassive black holes, at the heart of galaxies. His current project is assessing 10 pulsars to determine if they are deemed suitable to use for PPTA science objectives.

Rich Mildren

Rich Mildren is a professor in physics at Macquarie University. He teaches physics for medical students and conducts research in diamond optics and lasers.

Richard McDermid

Associate Professor Richard McDermid uses the world's largest telescopes to measure the motions and chemistry of stars in order to understand how galaxies form and evolve, as well as measuring their supermassive black holes. He is also leading the science development of a new instrument (called “MAVIS”) that Australia is building for the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile, and which will make images even sharper than the James Webb Space Telescope.

Stuart Ryder

Dr Stuart Ryder is an Adjunct Research Fellow with the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. His research interests include supernovae, star formation, and Fast Radio Bursts. He has used some of the largest telescopes on the planet, including the Gemini, Keck, and Very Large Telescopes, and has flown 8 times on SOFIA.

Speakers