Speakers

Professor Fred Watson

Fred Watson AM is an honorary professor of astronomy advocacy and engagement at Macquarie University. From 2018 to 2024, he was the Australian Government’s first Astronomer-at-Large, having served for the previous 20 years as the Astronomer-in-Charge of the Australian Astronomical Observatory and before that working at Britain’s two Royal Observatories. He led several projects in advanced astronomical instrumentation and spectroscopic surveys and today is involved in both the history and future of Australian astronomy. He is perhaps best known for his award-winning radio and TV broadcasts, books, music, dark-sky advocacy and the Space Nuts podcast. Fred has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson), but says that if it hits the Earth, it won't be his fault.

Claudia Fava

Claudia is an undergraduate student studying a Bachelor of Science majoring in Astronomy and Astrophysics and Chemistry. She has been captivated by the night sky since a young age. Countless nights spent stargazing ignited her interest in the vastness of space and the origin of elements in the universe, linking her passion for Chemistry with Astronomy. 

Throughout her academic journey, Claudia actively engages in research projects, including work on Chemical Depletion with Dr. Devika Kamath. Claudia also runs @mqphysastro, the social media page for Physics and Astronomy, with the goal to inspire future scientists. 

Karol Binkowski

Dr Karol Binkowski is a Teaching-Focused Academic in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. He engages diverse cohorts through upbeat statistics lectures that integrate GenAI-enhanced active learning with a strong focus on real-world applications. He teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students and advances innovation in GenAI-enhanced education, pedagogical practice, and collaboration across teaching and industry contexts.

Ben Pope

I'm an Associate Professor in Statistical Data Science at Macquarie University, leading an Astrostatistics Research Group. I research extrasolar planets - planets around other stars - and focus on developing and applying new data science approaches for detecting and characterizing them. 

I completed my doctorate in 2017 at Oxford, and from 2017-20 was a NASA Sagan Fellow at the NYU Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics and Center for Data Science. From 2021-2024 I was a Lecturer then Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics and DECRA Fellow at the University of Queensland.  

Ángel Rafael López-Sánchez 

Associate Professor Ángel R. López-Sánchez is an astrophysicist and science communicator working at Macquarie University (MQ). He is a recognised expert in the study of how the gas is converted into stars in galaxies and how this affects galaxy evolution.

After completing his PhD Thesis in Astrophysics at the prestigious “Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute” (Spain), in 2007 he joined CSIRO "Astronomy and Space Science” with a research project involving radio observations of gas-rich galaxies at the Australian Telescope Compact Array. In 2011 he joined the Australian Astronomical Observatory and Macquarie University combining astronomy instrumentation support, research, lecturing, and outreach. He was appointed as full-time research academic at the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Macquarie University in May 2023, where he is now the Director of the MQ Astronomy Observatory.  

He is a globally recognised science communicator, with visibility in Spanish and Australian printed, broadcast, and social media. He is also a passionate amateur astronomer that uses his own equipment for capturing the beauty of the Cosmos. His stunning astronomy time-lapse videos and photos have received +1/2 million views in YouTube and have been seen in textbooks, TV channels in USA, Australia and Spain and science museums worldwide. 

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Ryan White

"I am a first-year PhD student at Macquarie University studying how the motions of stars within a galaxy can tell us about its chaotic past. 

On previous projects I've looked at the binary interactions of massive stars right on their deathbed, how we quantify time dilation in the distant universe with exploding stars, merging binary black holes in the centre of galaxies, and how we can discover new periodic radio stars in our Milky Way."

 

Miguel Angel Gonzalez Bolivar

Miguel is currently completing his PhD in Physics in Macquarie University, working on simulations of common envelopes in binary stellar systems. At present he is working as software developer at the Australian Astronomical Optics, simulating data output of astronomical instruments and giving support of data reduction pipelines for the AAT.

Richard de Grijs

Professor Richard de Grijs is an acclaimed astronomer and prolific public speaker whose international career has included appointments at the University of Virginia (USA), the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield (UK), and Peking University in Beijing. His honours include the 2012 Selby Award from the Australian Academy of Science and the 2017 Erskine Award for interdisciplinary science and student mentorship from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). A recipient of the Jan Michalski Award for public engagement and a finalist in Alan Alda’s Flame Challenge, he speaks widely on astronomy, astrophysics and the history of maritime science and navigation.

Arihant Raidani

Arihant is an MRes student working with Dr. Tayyaba on using gamma-ray bursts to study cosmic dust in distant galaxies.He has a background in physics and astrophysics, with a particular interest in high-energy astrophysical phenomena and their use as probes of the Universe. He also passionate about science communication and outreach, and enjoys communicating complex concepts in astronomy in an accessible and engaging way.

Diego Ignacio Salvador Campe

Diego is a third-year PhD candidate in Astrophysics at Macquarie University. He completed both my undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Astronomy at the University of Concepción, Chile. He is interested in galaxy evolution, and in particular in how galaxies stop forming stars over time.

His current work focuses on the stellar initial mass function (IMF), which describes the distribution of stellar masses resulting from a star-formation event. The IMF is a fundamental assumption used to convert the light we observe into key galaxy properties, allowing us to better understand galaxy evolution.

Claudia Ghosn

Claudia is a fifth year student studying a Bachelor of Science (Astronomy and Astrophysics) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mechatronic Engineering). She is very passionate about all things STEM, especially astronomy, and loves to share this enthusiasm with others. She have, and continue to be involved in research projects and other extra-curricular activities that boost her knowledge and skillset. She is currently pursuing her honours thesis, which focuses on developing integration and alignment methods for precision optical instruments.

Harshit Pal

Harshit is a PhD researcher in astrophysics and astronomy at Macquarie University working under Prof. Devika Kamath, specialising in stellar spectroscopy and chemical abundances. Their research focuses on understanding the chemical diversity of evolved stars and what it reveals about the history of our galaxy.

Danny Terno

Danny Terno was born and grew up in Latvia, then part of the USSR. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Technion in Haifa, Israel, under the supervision of Asher Peres, and received his Ph.D. in 2003. From 2003 to 2006 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada, where his work on black holes and quantum gravity began.

Kateryna Andrych

Dr Kateryna Andrych is an astrophysics researcher at Macquarie University whose work explores dusty discs around evolved binary stars. Using high-resolution astronomical imaging and modern analysis techniques, she studies their structure, composition, and whether these systems could provide a second chance for planet formation.

Matt Grech

Matt Grech is a self-described Swiss Army Knife with a background in writing, cinematography, photography, editing, animation and graphic design. 

Ceridwen Dovey

Ceridwen Dovey is a fiction writer, science writer and filmmaker with a special interest in emotions and ethics in outer space. She's currently a Research Fellow at Macquarie University and a Powerhouse Artistic Associate.