2023 Queensland Astrofest Guest Speaker Professor Tamara Davis.
Cosmology as a probe of fundamental physics
The last few decades have been a golden age for observational astrophysics and cosmology, with the power of modern telescopes revealing surprising features of our Universe in ever more detail. From explaining the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, to measuring the mass of the neutrino, or understanding nuclear physics through gravitational waves, modern astrophysics has established itself as a leading avenue to reveal fundamental physics. In this talk Tamara Davis will give a lightning tour of the latest techniques by which astrophysicists are pushing the boundaries of known physics, and discuss the cracks (“tensions”) that are emerging between different cosmological probes.
Professor Tamara Davis is an astrophysicist and ARC Laureate Fellow at the University of Queensland with over two decades experience studying supernovae, black holes, and dark energy. She led the Dark Theme in the Australian Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics, is currently leading the Australian Dark Energy Survey (OzDES), and was recently announced as the Deputy Director of the upcoming Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery. Her accolades include the Astronomical Society of Australia’s Ellery Lectureship for career achievement, the Australian Academy of Science’s Millis medal for female scientific leadership, and a Member the Order of Australia.”
She is an avid communicator of science and occasional guest host of ABC TV’s “Catalyst”, including the episode “Black Hole Hunters” which won the American Institute of Physics Science Communication Award. In addition, her scientific writing includes Nature News and Views, and a cover story for Scientific American; she’s made innumerable school visits, performed teacher training, presented shows at two music festivals (Woodford and Splendour), and given many radio interviews; her TV and movie credits include Q&A, the ABC Morning Show, Stargazing Live, the award-winning documentary ‘Carbon’, and playing the voice of an artificial intelligence on ‘Living Universe’.
When not doing science she loves playing sport — she’s competed at a representative level in seven sports, from surf life saving to gymnastics, and has captained Australia in the (albeit obscure) sport of Ultimate Frisbee.