Careers

Early Life

Lisa was born in Essex, UK. As a child, she was outside with her dad one night when they saw the planet Mars in the sky. This sparked Lisa's love of space, and she joined her local astronomy group to learn more. As part of the group, Lisa was able to use a telescope for the first time. She decided that when she was older, she would be paid to be an astronomer. When Lisa was 11, she left school.

Early Life

Teresa grew up as a hard-working and determined student. She gained a degree in physics and a masters in instrumentation and analytical science. In her class of 200, she was one of only six women studying physics. Her interests moved towards using science to overcome global challenges, especially  protecting the environment and sustainability. Teresa went on to do a PhD in electrical engineering. The focus of her research was hydro power in Nepal. She then worked for a charity using technology to tackle poverty in developing countries.

Early Life

Anu grew up in the 1970's and was captivated by the early crewed missions to space. As a teenager he saved his pocket money and cash from his paper round to buy a telescope. His memory of seeing Saturn's rings for the first time still makes him feel emotional. Anu didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up, but knew he wanted to keep on learning.

Early Life

Tana grew up in Cape Town, South Africa as the daughter of two science teachers.  When she was 11 years old, the newspaper printed images from the Hubble Space Telescope on their front page. The pictures inspired Tana to become an astronomer. She went on to study physics and astronomy at university. After receiving a scholarship, she gained her PhD in the UK in 2013.

Early Life

Samuel was born in Umuahia, Nigeria. His father died when he was ten years old. Samuel won a scholarship to study physics at University College in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was linked to the University of London, UK. He got a paid fellowship to study for his PhD in astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Early Life

Wanda was born in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. She used to play games, pretending to fly a spacecraft to another galaxy. Wanda won a prize at a school science fair. This experience made her feel like she could pursue a career in science.

Wanda started to lose her sight when she was a teenager. She lost her sight completely while studying for a degree in physics at the University of Puerto Rico. Wanda decided to keep studying at university, although it was difficult. She repeated classes until she got her degree. It took her six years.

Early Life

Carlos was born in Mexico. He is the son of a German-Jewish immigrant father and a Mexican-Spanish mother. Half of Carlos’ family are musicians, the other half are doctors. Carlos was interested in maths and nature when he was young. He did not feel that music or medicine would suit him. Carlos has an undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Mexico. He started off studying engineering. He switched to physics when he realised that he was more interested in “why things work?” than “how?”.

Early Life

Anna grew up in Cheshire, UK. She has an undergraduate masters’ degree in Physics from the University of Bristol. Anna studied for a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. There, she got hooked on astronomy. This was the first time she had the chance to work with a radio telescope.

Early Life

Alan was born in London, UK. From a young age he was interested in codes and ciphers and spent lots of time creating and solving puzzles. He studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge and got a PhD in mathematical logic from Princeton University.