Careers

Early Life

Sally grew up in Los Angeles, California. As a child, Sally loved science and her parents encouraged her by giving her a chemistry set and a telescope. Sally studied English and physics at Stanford University. She stayed at Stanford to study for a master’s degree and a PhD. Sally's research was on how x-rays behaved in the interstellar medium. The interstellar medium is the stuff between the stars.

Early Life

Karlie grew up in a small town in New South Wales, Australia. Karlie is a Gomeroi women. The Gomeroi (also spelled Gamilaraay or Kamilaroi) are one of the largest Indigenous nations in Australia.

Karlie did not enjoy school, so her family arranged for elders in her community to tutor Karlie. Their teaching and mentoring helped Karlie to do well in her studies and she developed a love of maths. This support gave Karlie the confidence to continue studying science and maths. She became the first person in her family to go to university.

Early Life

Thebe was born in a rural village in north-west South Africa. He spent his childhood playing outside and sitting by the fire listening to his grandparents tell stories. Thebe went to school in the city of Mmabatho where he became interested in science. He saw Halley’s comet when he was 13 and this inspired him to build his own telescope. He learned how to make a telescope using household items from a book in his local library.

Early Life

Nergis was born in Lahore and grew up in Karachi, Pakistan. She spent her childhood in a home without gender stereotypes. This meant she and her older sister were free to follow their own interests. Nergis developed hands-on and practical skills, including fixing her bike, and enjoyed science and maths. She thought she would become an engineer when she was older. 

Early Life

Divya is from New Jersey, USA and went to the University of Rochester in New York State. While she was there she studied geology and music. During her degree, Divya was also an intern at NASA and at the SETI institute. In 2017, Divya moved to the UK to complete a PhD at University College London. 

Early Life

Jan read and watched lots of science fiction when they were a child. She liked how the science was a part of the story. However, she didn't think about going to university until a career advisor suggested it.  

Early Life

Norio began his career in astronomy in 1966 at the University of Tokyo. He was a student at the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory. Norio was part of a group of researchers who were all studying radio waves from objects in space. Radio waves are a type of light that our eyes and traditional telescopes cannot see. You need to use special telescopes.

Early Life

Lisa was born in Essex, UK. As a child, she was outside with her dad one night when they saw the planet Mars in the sky. This sparked Lisa's love of space, and she joined her local astronomy group to learn more. As part of the group, Lisa was able to use a telescope for the first time.