Astrophiz 142 - Krystal De Napoli - Indigenous Astronomy

Krystal is a fabulous indigenous astronomer who is carving out a brilliant career for herself while she improves the educational prospects for indigenous Australians. She is currently based in Melbourne but grew up in the closest town to me here in North-East Victoria. After being awarded her first science degree, she is extending her B.Sc with Astrophysics Honours Research at Monash University.

She was recently awarded the Out for Australia ‘Young Professional of the Year’ prize for her outstanding outreach and contributions to indigenous communities

In this episode, we hear about Krystal’s early struggles and how she now works on a regular radio show as she continues her Honours studies, and we get to put our science hats firmly on to hear how Krystal does research into star formation itself and how star formation rates can vary in different galaxies.

You will not hear a better description of what it is like to help passengers to observe auroras on an Antarctic bound 747, which Krystal has done, as well as how various indigenous storylines across Australia interpret auroras depending on their Latitude.

Krystal and Karlie Noon (see Ep 99) have written a book called ‘Sky Country’ which is part of the First Knowledges series published by Thames & Hudson and which will be out soon in April.

Enjoy this extended interview into a brilliant career in the making.

An astronomy podcast about Astrophysics, Astrophotography, Space Science and Particle Physics. Listen to a different special guest each fortnight, plus 'What's Up Doc' with Dr Ian 'Astroblog' Musgrave & the latest Astro news.

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