Lisa Kewley facts for kids

Lisa Jennifer Kewley (born in 1974) is a famous Australian astrophysicist. She is currently the Director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. This is a very important role in the world of space science.

Before this, Dr. Kewley led a big research center in Australia. It was called the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3-D (ASTRO 3-D). She was also a Professor at the Australian National University.

Dr. Kewley is an expert in how galaxies change and grow over time. She won the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 2005. This was for her studies on how much oxygen is in galaxies. In 2008, she received the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy. She was also chosen as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2014. In 2022, she made history as the first woman to become director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Early Life and Education

Lisa Kewley grew up in South Australia. Her parents always encouraged her to be interested in science. A high school physics teacher and a special stargazing camp helped her discover her love for astronomy.

After high school, she went to the University of Adelaide. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in astrophysics. Later, she moved to Canberra to study for her doctorate degree. She received her PhD in astrophysics from the Australian National University in 2002.

Early Research Work

In 2001, Dr. Kewley spent some time in the United States. She was a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University. During this time, she helped write an important paper. It was about how starburst galaxies form. These are galaxies where new stars are born very quickly.

Career and Discoveries

After finishing her doctorate, Dr. Kewley moved to the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. This is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She worked there on how stars form and change. She had great mentors, including the American astrophysicist Margaret Geller.

Studying Distant Galaxies

In 2004, Dr. Kewley received a special Hubble postdoctoral fellowship. She continued her research at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi in 2005. She was part of a team that used images from the Hubble Space Telescope. They found a very distant galaxy. It was 9.3 billion light-years away!

She then worked with the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. She analyzed data about the amount of oxygen in this galaxy and other galaxies. This research helped scientists understand how galaxies change as they get older.

Awards and Recognition

For her important work on oxygen in galaxies, Dr. Kewley received the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 2005. In 2008, she won the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy. This award was given by the American Astronomical Society. It recognized her research that showed how a galaxy's features depend on its age. She studied how old and new galaxies differ. This included their oxygen levels, how fast they form stars, and what their centers are like.

In 2011, Dr. Kewley returned to Australia. She became a professor at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. This is part of the Australian National University.

In 2014, she became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. In 2018, she gave the Harley Wood lecture. This is an annual event for astronomers in Australia. Her talk was about oxygen and stars. In 2020, she was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales.

Dr. Kewley also created and now directs a major research center. It is called the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics. It is based at Mount Stromlo.

Personal Life

Lisa Kewley married her husband, Reuben, in Canberra in 2001. Soon after, they moved to Massachusetts. They have a son, born in 2008, and a daughter, born in 2011. Both of their children were born while Dr. Kewley was living and working in Hawai'i.

See also

In Spanish: Lisa Kewley para niños