Professor Lisa Kewley (2017-2022)
Professor Lisa Kewley was the inaugural Director of ASTRO 3D, stepping down from the role in July 2022 when she became Director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Boston, USA. Kewley obtained her PhD in 2002 from the Australian National University on the connection between star-formation and supermassive black holes in galaxies. She was a Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics Fellow and a NASA Hubble Fellow. Her awards include the 2006 American Astronomical Society Annie Jump Cannon Award, the 2008 American Astronomical Society Newton Lacy Pierce Prize, and the 2020 US National Academy of Science James Craig Watson Medal. In 2014, Kewley was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science “for her fundamental advances in understanding of the history of the universe, particularly star and galaxy formation”, and in 2015, Kewley was awarded an ARC Laureate Fellowship, Australia’s top fellowship to support excellence in research. In 2020, Kewley was awarded the U.S. National Academy of Sciences James Craig Watson Medal, in 2021 she was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and in 2022 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Professor Stuart Wyithe (2022-2023)
Professor Stuart Wyithe stepped down from the ASTRO 3D Director’s role in April 2023 to become Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Mt Stromlo Observatory, Australian National University. He was awarded his PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2001, and was a Hubble Fellow at Harvard University before returning to Australia in 2002. Stuart is an international leading authority in the theoretical simulation of the Epoch of Reionisation and Gravitational Lensing. His research focus is on the evolution of the earliest galaxies and how this evolution may be studied with the next generation of telescopes. He has received several awards for this work, including an Australian Laureate Fellowship, the Pawsey Medal for physics from the Australian Academy of Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year and the Australian Institute of Physics Boas Medal. Stuart has also played numerous leadership roles including President of the Astronomical Society of Australia and Chair of the Australian National Committee for Astronomy. In the latter role he chaired the Australian Astronomy Decadal Plan 2015-2025.
Professor Emma Ryan-Weber (2023-2024)
Emma Ryan-Weber is a Professor in Astrophysics at Swinburne University of Technology. Professor Ryan-Weber’s research focus is on the earliest elements in the universe and how they have evolved over cosmic time. She pursues this work within ASTRO 3D as part of the Centre’s Galaxy Evolution Program. Ryan-Weber leads the metal absorber work package for the European Southern Observatory (ESO) VLT Large Program, XQR-30. The program is the most ambitious to date for follow-up spectroscopy of redshift 6 quasars, used to probe intervening elements such as Carbon and Oxygen.
Ryan-Weber obtained her PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2004 on Neutral Hydrogen in Galaxies and the Intergalactic Medium. From 2004 to 2008 Ryan-Weber was a postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge working on number of cutting-edge projects including star formation between galaxies and the discovery of the Milky Way’s faintest gas-rich dwarf companion. Ryan-Weber’s pioneering observations using near-infrared spectroscopy revealed the most distant carbon detected in the intergalactic medium. She is a sought-after international speaker on the subject. In 2009 Ryan-Weber returned to Australia and commenced a position at Swinburne’s Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, where she held an Australian Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship. As a research group leader Ryan-Weber mentors her PhD graduates and postdoctoral researchers to pursue careers in both astrophysics and industry, creating impact in the wider community.
Professor Ryan-Weber was previously the Swinburne node leader for ASTRO 3D and deputy lead of the Galaxy Evolution project. As part of that role, she recognised the need to upskill PhD students and postdocs in applying for telescope time, initiating and running a series of ESO proposal writing workshops. Ryan-Weber works part-time and is an advocate and role model for parents of children with a disability. In 2020 Ryan-Weber campaigned for short-term COVID-19 scholarship and contract extensions for ASTRO 3D PhD students and postdocs affected by the pandemic. She developed policy and chaired the COVID-19 extensions committee in which funding was redirected to PhD students and postdocs. The redistribution of funding was a win-win for ASTRO 3D. Individuals were supported through hardship and ASTRO 3D publications were bolstered.