MLMC had the pleasure of welcoming Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith to the College virtually last week. Keen scientists and mathematicians from Years 9 and 10 gathered in the Lecture Theatre to listen to Lisa discussing her journey as an astrophysicist, presenter and author. Students were able to gain insight into the opportunities for careers in STEM and learn more about Lisa’s role as the national Ambassador for Women in STEM.
Lisa has a PhD in radio astronomy, has published over 50 scientific research papers and she was also involved in the development of the square kilometre array and the Australian SKA pathfinder telescope. She is a regular presenter on television and radio. Books written by Lisa include: Little Book, Big Universe; Aliens and Other Worlds; Under the Stars: Astrophysics for Bedtime; The Secret Life of Stars and When Galaxies Collide. In her ambassador role, Lisa works to remove barriers to the participation of females in STEM.
Following the presentation, students had the opportunity to ask Lisa questions related to STEM or her career. Key messages from Lisa’s presentation included: there are many different careers both in STEM and supporting the work of STEM professionals, mathematics is the basis for many different careers including STEM-based careers and the importance of persisting with your studies.
Below some of the participating students offer highlights about what they learnt:
- Not everyone that works there has the same degree — they are all different but somewhat linked
- It was interesting how she had progressed through STEM and her achievements
- You don't always have to be the best at a subject, just keep working at it
- I liked hearing about the telescopes that she helps create and how she does it
- I think I realised how many branches there are for engineering
- How important Maths is
- About Lisa's work achievements, like the kilometre square telescope grid, how much a telescope can do and how much information you can get out of them
- The square kilometre array, her backstory and all of her efforts in the space field
- There are trillions of planets in the universe
- Science is an ongoing unknown that is very big
- The way Lisa explained the complexity of the telescopes she uses
- Hearing about the square kilometre array
- How Australia is the best place to gain images from space because of how distant it is from light pollution
- I found it very interesting hearing about Australia's influence on space study and how large the program in Australia is. It definitely made me more interested in Australian programs of Science, etc
- Everything that she had accomplished in her career
- The satellites in the desert
- Her interesting and understandable knowledge of why she thought aliens were real.
