Hi, I’m Fiona. I grew up in the North East of England. I spent my childhood roaming around the hills of Northumberland, playing far too many musical instruments (clarinet, piano, tin whistle, guitar, accordion and - much to my parents chagrin, who had to take the thing places - the double bass) and asking far too many questions that started with ‘why’. My family moved to New Zealand when I was 15.
I studied at the University of Auckland to get a BSc(Hons) in physics and mathematics. As an undergrad I had the opportunity to pursue reading courses and research in dynamical systems, topology and orbital dynamics.
I received my PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the Australian National University in 2019, and spent my first year as a postdoctoral researcher at UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy. I am fascinated by how we use information to draw conclusions about our Universe, and how we quantify uncertainty. I am passionate about getting people involved in science, and building scientific literacy, whether it be through school visits, public talks, or resource creation!
With Prof. Ken Freeman at the ANU Open Day 2018
I am a member of the ARC Center of Excellence in Gravitational Wave Astronomy (OzGrav), the LIGO-Virgo collaboration, a member of the Australian National Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (ANITA) steering committee, and serve as a liaison between the Australian Gravitational Wave Data Center (GWDC) and Optical Data Center (ODC) scientific advisory committees. I have refereed for academic journals and have taken on a number of reviewer roles within the LSC. I am also a musician, an artist (you can purchase my works via RedBubble), and - in the summer months - a surf lifesaver.
