FUN STUFF
Prizes, parties, and publicity
Sometimes I get to do some fantastic fun stuff along with my job. Here are some of my favourites.
Prizes
Australian Institute of Physics Women in Physics Lectureship
Each year the Australian Institute of Physics chooses one female physicist to represent our under-represented gender and give a lecture tour. This year that's me. Over September-November I'll be giving 32 talks in five cities. When I have a final schedule I'll post it.
Louise Webster Award
The Astronomical Society of Australia were kind enough to give me their Louise Webster Award in 2009. It goes to the early career researcher who has written the single paper with the highest worldwide impact. It was for the 2007 ESSENCE paper I led that tested new theoretical physics models using cosmology, giving strong evidence against two of them.
L'Oréal Women in Science Award
3Being one of the L'Oréal Women in Science award winners for Australia has been a great experience. We spent a week in Melbourne that involved filming a video about our work, doing some media training, a schools day talking with a couple of hundred gifted high-school girls, and of course the awards presentation night and coctail party. For a write-up about the prize see this website, and on the Chief Scientist's website.
Events and Talks
The Australian Academy of Sciences
In 2009 I was asked to give one of the talks at the conference for the inauguration of new members of the Australian Academy of Science. The subject of the day was evolution, and I spoke about "The Evolution of Physical Law" - what gives us confidence in the laws of physics and what aspects of them may change.
The Prime Minister's Science Prizes
I thought the Prime Ministers Science Prizes dinner, 2009, was a very cool party to get an invite to. It was an inspiring evening, in which Astronomy came away with the big award. Did you know that radio astronomers at the Parkes observatory in Australia invented the wireless internet protocol that is now used worldwide? Massive!
Magazines, Radio, etc...
In 2010 I wrote another feature article for Scientific American, which they chose to be their cover story."Is the Universe Leaking Energy?" (Scientific American, 2010)
Scientific American asked me to write one of their "Ask the Experts" segments, to answer the question from one of their readers "If galaxies are all moving apart, how can they collide?" You can read my answer here (18 March, 2009).
You can catch me on ABC radio, being interviewed for the "Conversations" program with Richard Fidler, by clicking the podcast option here (55 minutes long… so be prepared!), ABC Raio 612 Sydney, 702 Brisbane, 10am 11th October 2009
Again on ABC radio, doing live talkback on the "Australia Talks" program, with Jonathan Nally and David de Boer. Listen here (50 minutes) ABC Radio National Broadcast 10am 7th April 2009
BrisScience was kind enough to invite us back to give another Astro-Theatre presentation in Brisbane town hall. So Michael Drinkwater, Kevin Pimbblet and I returned to give a presentation on planets. I know someone filmed this one, so when I get my hands on the link I'll post it here.
The Queensland Astrofest organisers invited me along as an honoured guest. A great event. You should have seen the amazing telescopes these "amateur" astronomers have set up. My talk was far less interesting than their set-ups I'm sure! QLD Astrofest.
UQ News liked some of the things I did and gave me this write-up.
In 2005 I wrote my first feature article for Scientific American."Misconceptions about the Big Bang" (Scientific American, 2010)