Dr Sarah Pearce named SKAO Telescope Director for SKA Australia

AAL would like to congratulate Dr Sarah Pearce on her appointment by the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) to the position of Telescope Director for SKA Australia.

Sarah is currently Acting Chief Scientist of CSIRO and a Director on the AAL Board. Previously the Deputy Director of CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science (CASS), Sarah was involved in the SKA Observatory Convention as Australia’s science representative. The SKA Observatory is the Intergovernmental Organisation that will build and operate the SKA – the largest science facility on the planet. The Australian SKA site is CSIRO’s Murchison Radio astronomy Observatory (MRO), located around 800km north of Perth. This ‘radio quiet’ location will allow the SKA to detect extremely faint radio signals from space, without interference from human radio activity.

Australia’s involvement in the project will see Australian astronomers at the forefront of astronomical discoveries with access to world-leading SKA science facilities and data. Australian businesses will also lead construction of SKA infrastructure locally and contribute to the development of new technologies used in the SKA.

The SKA is supported by 15 countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The Australia-New Zealand SKA Coordination Committee (ANZSCC) supports Australia’s involvement in the global SKA project. AAL is a project partner and member of the ANZSCC through expert member and AAL CEO Mark McAuley. Please contact Mark for more information about AAL and Australia’s role in the SKA Observatory.