Join the Embassy of Italy in Australia and the Australian Academy of Science to hear from Australia’s first female astronaut, Dr Meganne Christian.
Dr Christian is a UNSW Sydney alumna who currently works at the Italian National Research Council. She was selected as part of the European Space Agency’s 2022 astronaut class.
Dr Christian is a materials scientist and atmospheric physicist. She came to Australia aged five and went to school in Wollongong. She is one of 11 reservist astronauts selected, alongside five career astronauts and one parastronaut from more than 22,500 eligible applicants. She will represent the United Kingdom, having been born there and holding citizenship. She is also a citizen of Italy and New Zealand.
Dr Christian will also be participating in a range of events and activities in Sydney as part of National Science Week, which runs 12–20 August 2023. Find out more about these events organised by UNSW Sydney and Powerhouse.
Date: Friday 11 August 2023
Time: 5.30pm – 6.45pm AEST, followed by refreshments and networking
Venue: The Shine Dome, 15 Gordon St Acton ACT
Please note: this event will not be livestreamed, but the event recording will be made available on Friday 25 August.
Dr Meganne Christian will recount the experiences that led her to be selected as a member of the European Space Agency astronaut reserve, from materials science studies in microgravity to a year working at Concordia Station in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth, also known as ‘White Mars’. All this was made possible by her decision to uproot in 2014 and move to Bologna, Italy, to work for the National Research Council for a one-year postdoc that became a nine-year journey.
Dr Meganne Christian is a materials scientist at the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems at the National Research Council of Italy in Bologna. In November 2022 she became a member of the European Space Agency astronaut reserve, one of the class of 17 candidates selected from a pool of over 22,500 applicants across Europe.
She holds a Bachelor of Engineering and a doctorate in Industrial Chemistry from the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Since 2014, she has been involved in the European Graphene Flagship, and has participated in two parabolic flight campaigns to test graphene coatings for thermal management in satellites. She has also undertaken two missions, including a winter-over, to Concordia Station in Antarctica where she was a research scientist in charge of atmospheric physics and meteorology.
events@science.org.au
canberra.scienza@esteri.it
Join the Embassy of Italy in Australia and the Australian Academy of Science to hear from Australia’s first female astronaut, Dr Meganne Christian.
Dr Christian is a UNSW Sydney alumna who currently works at the Italian National Research Council. She was selected as part of the European Space Agency’s 2022 astronaut class.
Dr Christian is a materials scientist and atmospheric physicist. She came to Australia aged five and went to school in Wollongong. She is one of 11 reservist astronauts selected, alongside five career astronauts and one parastronaut from more than 22,500 eligible applicants. She will represent the United Kingdom, having been born there and holding citizenship. She is also a citizen of Italy and New Zealand.
Dr Christian will also be participating in a range of events and activities in Sydney as part of National Science Week, which runs 12–20 August 2023. Find out more about these events organised by and .
Date: Friday 11 August 2023
Time: 5.30pm – 6.45pm AEST, followed by refreshments and networking
Venue: The Shine Dome, 15 Gordon St Acton ACT
Please note: this event will not be livestreamed, but the event recording will be made available on Friday 25 August.
Dr Meganne Christian will recount the experiences that led her to be selected as a member of the European Space Agency astronaut reserve, from materials science studies in microgravity to a year working at Concordia Station in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth, also known as ‘White Mars’. All this was made possible by her decision to uproot in 2014 and move to Bologna, Italy, to work for the National Research Council for a one-year postdoc that became a nine-year journey.
Dr Meganne Christian is a materials scientist at the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems at the National Research Council of Italy in Bologna. In November 2022 she became a member of the European Space Agency astronaut reserve, one of the class of 17 candidates selected from a pool of over 22,500 applicants across Europe.
She holds a Bachelor of Engineering and a doctorate in Industrial Chemistry from the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Since 2014, she has been involved in the European Graphene Flagship, and has participated in two parabolic flight campaigns to test graphene coatings for thermal management in satellites. She has also undertaken two missions, including a winter-over, to Concordia Station in Antarctica where she was a research scientist in charge of atmospheric physics and meteorology.
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events@science.org.au
canberra.scienza@esteri.it
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