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Director of Astronomy and Space Science, CSIRO

Dr Douglas Bock has been Director of CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, and Director of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), since 2016. Douglas is Australia's Science Director on the board of the Square Kilometre Array Organisation.

The CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science business unit leads CSIRO’s activities in the space sector. It draws together NASA’s Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (operated by CSIRO), our Space Research Program and the CSIRO Centre for Earth Observation as well as CSIRO’s radio astronomy activities (instrumentation, astrophysics research, SKA planning and pre-construction work, the Australia Telescope National Facility)

From 2010 to 2016 Douglas was Theme Leader and then Program Director for ATNF Operations, leading the operation of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), Parkes Telescope, Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), and Mopra Telescope - which are used by more than 400 Australian and overseas scientists each year.

He oversaw the transition of ASKAP and the Murchison Radio-Astronomy Observatory from construction to ASKAP early science. Douglas has also been active in Operations planning for the international Square Kilometre Array project and looks forward to the opportunities ahead for Australia in radio astronomy, and working collaboratively with Australian Universities in evolving the role of the ATNF for the SKA era.

Douglas enjoys working at the interface of astronomy and technology, and this has led to a career focussed on the design, construction, and operation of radio telescopes.

Before coming to CSIRO, Douglas was Project Manager and Assistant Director - Operations for the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA). Prior to that, he was Assistant Director for the Radio Astronomy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, and System Scientist for the Allen Telescope Array. Douglas was a postdoc at Berkeley and has a PhD in Physics from the University of Sydney.

Experience

  • 2016–present
    Director, Astronomy and Space Science, CSIRO
  • 2010–2016
    Head (Program Director) Australia Telescope National Facility Operations, CSIRO
  • 2004–2009
    Project Manager and Assistant Director Operations, Combined Array for Millimeter-wave Astronomy, University of California Berkeley
  • 2000–2004
    Assistant Research Astronomer, University of California Berkeley

Education

  • 1998 
    University of Sydney, PhD
  • 1994 
    University of Sydney, BE (Elec) Hons I
  • 1992 
    University of Sydney, BSc