Research Scientist, SKA Site & Infrastructure, CSIRO
I'm the Research Scientist for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Site & Infrastructure team in CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS), but I don’t have a typical research role. The SKA is an international project to build the world's largest radio telescope in Australia and southern Africa, which aims to answer some fundamental questions in astrophysics. I sit at the interface between science and government, helping coordinate activities associated with development of the SKA site in Australia (on and around CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia). My work ranges from technical analysis, to negotiations regarding the Radio Quiet Zone that protects our unique observatory, and Aboriginal heritage and Native Title matters. This requires technical understanding of radio astronomy plus the ability to network with local stakeholders, government and international partners.
I spend a small amount of time working on astronomy, though. I completed my PhD on the evolution of young radio galaxies at the University of Sydney in 2012, and I’m now a member of several research teams: Radio Galaxy Zoo, GLASS (an Australia Telescope Compact Array Legacy Project) and Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) – EMU is one of the key science projects for CSIRO’s newest radio telescope, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP).
Experience
2013–present
Research Scientist, SKA Site & Infrastructure, CSIRO
2013–2013
Postdoctoral research associate, CSIRO
Education
2012
The University of Sydney, PhD
2007
The University of Adelaide, Honours (Physics, First Class)
2006
The University of Adelaide, Bachelor of Science (Space Science and Astrophysics)
Grants and Contracts
2018
CSIRO's Ruby-Payne Scott Award
Role:
Ruby Payne-Scott Awards supports eligible staff who have taken extended leave of at least eighteen weeks. The award provides support to staff to re-establish themselves and reconnect with the research underway in their field and related fields of research, or advancements in their professional area.
Funding Source:
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
2015
CSIRO's Ruby Payne-Scott Award
Role:
Ruby Payne-Scott Awards supports eligible staff who have taken extended leave of at least eighteen weeks. The award provides support to staff to re-establish themselves and reconnect with the research underway in their field and related fields of research, or advancements in their professional area.
Funding Source:
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation