Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith

Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith is an astrophysicist, the Australian Government’s Women in STEM Ambassador and a Professor of Practice in Science Communication at UNSW. Her role is to increase the participation of women and girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) studies and careers in Australia by driving systemic and cultural change. 

Her research interests include the birth and death of stars, astrophysical molecular spectroscopy, cosmic magnetic fields and supermassive black holes. Professor Harvey-Smith serves on the Australian Space Agency’s Advisory Board and previously served as a project scientist for the Square Kilometre Array – a next-generation radio telescope that will survey billions of years of cosmic history. She is author of the popular science books When Galaxies Collide, The Secret Life of Stars, Under the Stars: Astrophysics for Bedtime. Her latest children’s book on astrobiology, called Aliens and Other Worlds, launches in October 2021.