2006 Science Futures: New Horizons
Dr Jill Tarter
(Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI & Director, Centre for SETI
Research, California)
The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe. The SETI Institute was founded in 1984 as part of NASA and is now a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach.
Dr. Tarter received her undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics from Cornell University and her Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of California at Berkeley, where her major field of study was theoretical high-energy astrophysics. Today Dr. Tarter serves as Director of the Institute's Center for SETI Research & was appointed in 1997 as the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI.
Dr. Tarter travels globally to present lectures and papers at numerous scientific symposia and colloquia. She has published scores of technical articles, has been elected to many professional societies, and has served on a number of scientific advisory committees.
She has received several awards for her work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, two Public Service Medals from NASA, and the 2001 Tesla Award of Technology at the Telluride Tech Festival. In 2002, Dr. Tarter was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 2004, Dr. Tarter was selected by TIME magazine as one of the world’s 100 most “influential and powerful people.” She was chosen in the “Scientist and Thinker” category for her leadership role in the scientific search for evidence of life on other worlds, and for her efforts to promote scientific literacy among youth, particularly girls and young women. She is the subject of a book for young readers, Looking for Life in the Universe, exploring her work and the idea of extraterrestrial life in the universe.
Her work was used as the basis of the 1997 blockbuster film "Contact", starring Jodie Foster.
More information about SETI and Dr. Tarter can be found at:
www.seti.org
Professor Richard Wiseman Professor of Psychology,
University of Hertfordshire, UK
Prof Richard Wiseman started his working life as an award-winning professional magician and was one of the youngest members of The Magic Circle. He then obtained a first class honours degree in Psychology from University College London and a doctorate in psychology from the University of Edinburgh.
The University of Hertfordshire recently awarded Prof Wiseman Britain's first Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology. In 2000 he was awarded The CSICOP Public Education In Science Award, and in 2002 Prof Wiseman received the Joseph Lister Award from the BAAS (British Association for the Advancement of Science).
Prof Wiseman has established an international reputation for scientific research into the scientific examination of unusual areas within psychology. This work has been reported in over 40 academic journal articles, including those In Nature, Science and Psychological Bulletin. In addition, he has co-authored 6 books and presented over 50 papers at both national and international conferences.
Ongoing research includes the following:
- The Psychology of Luck
- The Psychology of Deception, including lying and lie detection and magic
- Psychology and the Paranormal, including hauntings and psychic abilities
- Mass Participation Studies
- MegaLab in conjunction with the Daily Telegraph and BBC
- LaughLab, involving 350,000 people in 70 countries
- Sixth Sense, done as part of the 2005 Edinburgh International Science Festival (please see www.sciencefestival.co.uk for results and an explanation)
Prof Wiseman often appears on the media, and has developed considerable experience designing experiments and surveys for television, radio and print media. He has been a regular guest on BBC1’s ‘Tomorrow's World’ and Radio 4’s ‘The Today Programme’, and his work has also been reported on a large number of other radio and television programmes, including BBC2’s ‘Horizon’, Channel Four’s ‘Equinox’, ITV’s ‘World In Action’, and Radio 4’s ‘Start The Week’ and ‘Midweek’. Feature articles about this work have appeared in various newspapers, including The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian. He has recently completed a documentary about the psychology of luck for BBC1, and an international documentary on the science of humour for the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
Chris Krishna-Pillay
Education Manager, CSIRO, Melbourne
Chris Krishna-Pillay is one of Australia’s foremost proponents of science theatre. He has appeared many times on Australian television as a science correspondent for “Today” and “Totally Wild”, is a regular guest on the popular science program “Einstein A-Go-Go”, and was science consultant for the children’s television series “Wicked Science”.
He has written and performed many successful theatre shows, including Pre-Coital: The Science of Dating, which was described as “the pick of the Australian Science Festival” by the Canberra Times. He has also written and performed Australian tours of the Great Big Science Gig as part of Australian National Science Week.
Chris has presented and chaired sessions at education conferences and theatre & communication workshops. He is currently chair of the National Science Week Victorian Coordinating Committee.
Chris will be presenting Pre-Coital: The Science of Dating at the 2006 International Science Festival, as well as giving short (and probably explosive!) demonstrations around the city of Dunedin during the week of the Science Festival.
2004 Emerging Technologies
Professor Kevin Warwick (The Cyborg)
Professor Kevin Warwick (Cyborg Man) of the University of Reading,
boggled our minds with the endless possibilities his research presents
not only for those who secretly wish they were bionic, but also in the
fields of health and disability research. He has devoted all of his
academic life to the study of Robotics, Cybernetics and the
controversial relationship between man and machine. Author of over 300
academic papers and numerous popular science books, he is best known
for the controversial research he has performed on himself.
In 1998 Kevin Warwick turned himself into the worlds first
cybernetic man by having a transponder surgically implanted into his
arm which linked him to the machinery in his office. The aim of this
controversial experiment was to determine whether information could be
transmitted to and from an implant. The experiment was a success and
prompted further research and a lot of controversy.
Dr Sylvia Earle (The Aquababe)
To refer to Dr Sylvia Earle as an Oceanographer would not even begin to do justice to the amazing life she has led, her astounding achievements, and her dedication to the world’s oceans and the magical life contained therein. Among her countless, remarkable accomplishments, Sylvia holds the record for the world’s deepest solo dive at 1000 meters. She has led more than 60 expeditions and spent more than 7000 hours underwater. One of her latest achievements was to lead the Sustainable Seas Exploration project spending 5 years studying America’s National Marine Sanctuary System. In 1987 she took up the position of National Geographic's ‘Explorer in Residence’ and in 1998 she received the title of Time Magazines first ‘Hero for the Planet’. In order to be instrumental in underwater research and conservation, Sylvia has also been involved in the establishment of three different companies involved in the designing and building of underwater equipment such as submersibles, underwater robots and research. No matter what amazing project she is involved in, or how many honorary doctorates and accolades she has received, the one thing that always stands out is her unrestrained passion and love for the underwater world. The stand she has taken towards making people aware of the importance of oceans to the wellbeing of the planet and what we as individuals can do to conserve and protect this precious and essential component of the world we live in, truly makes her a ‘Hero of the Planet’.
Professor Daniel Raichvarg
Professor Daniel Raichvarg teaches the art of communicating
science to the public at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France.
Since 1987 he has focussed on using theatre as a way to popularise
science, including its fascinating and often controversial history.His
performances are dedicated to live representations based on the marvels
of the sciences, with a special focus on the relationships between
science and society. This has all culminated in a number of award
winning plays including ‘Cabaret Pasteur’ which has informed and
entertained audiences throughout Europe.
The famous Louis Pasteur was as much a man of theatre as he was a
man of science and often undertook public experiments and ‘spectacles’
in order to illustrate his amazing discoveries to both his peers and
the general community. It is therefore only fitting that theatre is
used to portray the life of this amazing scientist, his discoveries and
his inventions. Utilising a subtle blend of entertainment and
scientific instruction in his solo performance, ‘Cabaret Pasteur’,
Daniel Raichvarg gives the audience an opportunity to view Louis
Pasteur in a new and refreshing light.
Dr Philippa Uwins
Dr Philippa Uwins is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis at the University of Queensland and co director of Whistler Research. She gained her Ph.D at the University of Aberdeen in the field of Palynology (the study of organic microfossils). At a very early age Philippa Uwins developed an interest in rocks and this became the starting point of her career as a geologist which has lead to the ground breaking discovery of miniscule organisms called nano-bacteria (Nanobes) in Australian rock specimens from deep beneath the sea off Western Australia. This amazing discovery has fueled controversial arguments about the minimum size a living organism can be and to revisit arguments for and against life on other planets.
Sir Robert Lord Winston
Lord Winston is Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College School of Medicine, London University and a world-renowned fertility expert. He is best known to audiences throughout the world as the host of several BBC television series including “The Human Body”, “Superhuman” and “The Human Mind”. Through this medium he has shown a great capacity for communicating very complex science to a wide public audience.
2002 The Earth and Beyond
Dr Tim Flannery
Director of the South Australian Museum
Dr Tim Flannery has received international acclaim as a
mammologist and paleontologist, but in recent years he has become
better known as an author and speaker with controversial ideas on
conservation, the environment and population control.
In 1980, Flannery discovered several fossil dinosaur sites on the
southern coast of Victoria, and in 1985 he was part of a group that
discovered the first cretaceous mammal fossils found in Australia. The
find pushed the mammal fossil record in Australia back 80 million years
and was published on the cover of the journal Nature. He has written
several popular books including the best-selling environmental
anthology of Australasia, The Future Eaters, two children's books on
Australian dinosaurs and his most recent book, Throwim Way Leg,
describing his adventures in Papua New Guinea.
By utilising his original and innovative approach to solutions to
environmental problems, Dr Flannery maintains a high, provocative and
vocal profile. This serves to initiate positive, active debate and
draws needed attention to vital issues such as the loss of Australian
biodiversity, degradation of the land, sustainability and conserving
our resources. Dr Flannery seeks to link the nature of the environment
with social and economic problems, and by popularising science provides
access to issues of fundamental importance.
Dr John Grunsfeld
Only six week before his visit to the 2002 New Zealand
international Science Festival, Dr John Grunsfeld was walking in space
as part of his mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
Before being selected as a NASA astronaut in 1992, Grunsfeld was a
postdoctoral fellow in experimental physics at the University of
Chicago from 1988 to 1989, and, from 1989 to 1992, he was a senior
research fellow at the California Institute of Technology.
Grunsfeld’s first flight assignment came in 1995 on board the Space
Shuttle Endeavour. In 1997, he served as flight engineer for the Space
Shuttle Atlantis and completed a 10-day mission to Russia’s Mir space
station. In 1999 and 2002, he took part in five successful space walks
to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Grunsfeld has logged over 45
days in space, including space walks totaling 37 hours and 32 minutes.
Among his many honors, Grunsfeld was awarded the NASA Distinguished
Service Medal in 2002, and he earned NASA’s Exceptional Service Medals
in 1997, 1998 and 2000.
Professor Steve Beckwith
Steven V. W. Beckwith is the Director of the Space Telescope
Science Institute on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, Maryland, and a professor of physics and astronomy at John
Hopkins University.
His main research interests are the formation and early evolution of
planets including those outside the Solar System and the birth of
galaxies in the early universe. Through his responsibility for the
Hubble Space Telescope science program, he has the opportunity to delve
into some of the most interesting questions of modern astrophysics.
2000 Global Change
Dr David Ballamy
Professor David Bellamy, botanist, writer and broadcaster has
become one of the best-known and respected personalities in Britain and
around the world. His numerous television and radio broadcasts,
together with his books, communicate to thousands of people his
enthusiasm and concern for the natural world. David Bellamy's travels
take him across the world heralding the message that a new, enlightened
view of conservation is needed and that every person has a part to
play.
Dr. Bellamy is the author of over 40 books and 80-plus scientific
papers with a common theme to ecology and the environment. These
best-selling publications cover a diverse range of environmental
subjects from the boglands of Ireland to the gardens of the Vatican. He
is also widely known on television, having written and presented over
400 programmes both for the BBC and Independent Television.
Puppetease
Ross Browning presents concepts of science & technology in an
easily grasped manner, through the use of puppetry, humour & live
music. Puppetease is an action packed, fast paced science comedy,
interspersed with live music, and has enthralled more than 500 000
school aged children throughout Australia since it’s establishment in
1991.
With over 25 years experience creating educational performances for
young people in film, theatre, museums & schools, Ross Browning is
an accomplished actor, writer, composer, as well as being Australia’s
leading puppet maste