Martin Wood Complex, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU
Professor Jan Eldridge, University of Auckland
Exploding Binaries: Stars and Gender
About the event
My path towards becoming a professor has involved exploding a lot of binaries! The majority of these binaries are binary stars, that is two stars who orbit around one another, that sometimes "get-in-each-others-way" creating violent and unusual explosions. The other binary I've "exploded" is the idea that gender is only binary. I'll talk about some exciting discoveries about the lives of binary stars and how they have shaped our Universe. I will also be discussing my own personal and academic path that I've followed while doing astrophysics. I'll reflect on how someone who was first in their family to go to university became a professor in Aotearoa New Zealand while challenging the understanding of gender.
Bio
I obtained my MA and MSci degrees from the University of Cambridge in 2001. I stayed at the University to study for my PhD in astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy, graduating in 2005. After this I undertook postdoctoral research at the Institut d’Astrophysics de Paris, Queen’s University Belfast and the Institute of Astronomy. In 2011 I was appointed as a Lecturer of Astrophysics at The University of Auckland.
My research is focused upon the lives and deaths of stars. Most of my work involves the suite of computer codes I have created, the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis code (BPASS, bpass.auckland.ac.nz). Using BPASS I study stars, supernovae and gravitational wave sources in our own Galaxy out to the edge of the observable Universe.
Refreshments
This lecture will be followed by a drinks reception in the Martin Wood Foyer.
Join in person or online
This lecture is free to attend in person (please register via the link below) and will also be livestreamed.