Zero Genie

Professor Lisa Kewley has today been awarded the James Craig Watson Medal, presented every two years by the US National Academy of Sciences. This award is made in acknowledgement of a researcher’s outstanding contributions to astronomy. Much like the 2018 recipient of this award, Professor Ewine van Dishoeck, Professor Kewley’s research falls within the interface of astrophysics and chemistry. While van Dishoeck researches the chemical composition of molecules in space, Kewley’s work focuses on the chemical properties of nearby galaxies, and on star formation.

Kewley is leading the way in the theoretical modelling and observation of star-forming galaxies and active galaxies. By better understanding the chemical composition of galaxies, Kewley and her colleagues are gaining a greater understanding of how and when galaxies were formed. By analyzing the abundance of gases containing oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, it is possible to understand how old a galaxy is. Oxygen can only be produced when a star dies. Analyzing this so-called ‘oxygen history’ of galaxies over billions of years helps astronomers understand how many generations of stars have formed and died previously within these galaxies, and therefore make an approximation as to how old galaxies are.

Kewley has previously won many awards, including the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 2005 and the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy in 2008. Not content with being the kind of researcher that keeps her head down and focuses solely on her own research, Kewley has also published work on equity, diversity and inclusion in research. She has also been a vocal ally against barriers to inclusion within the wider research culture that lead to underrepresentation of minority groups in research in general, and science research in particular. In 2019, Kewley published a paper in Nature Astronomy entitled ‘Diversity and inclusion in Australian astronomy’. In this article, Kewley discusses the Pleiades award scheme. Modeled on the U.K.’s own Athena SWAN Charter set up by fellow astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the Pleiades award scheme celebrates departments and institutions that are actively making changes to nurture a more inclusive workplace.

Born in Australia, Kewley has conducted research in her home country, in the USA, and in Hawaii, though her research colleagues span the globe; testament to the hugely collaborative efforts required in advances in astronomy. By nudging the research culture to become more inclusive, Kewley hopes to further expand global networks of leading researchers through greater collaboration and a better representation of society.

There are many barriers to inclusion for underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) research and, in the higher levels of academia, in both the sciences and the humanities. By implementing small changes such as longer contracts that allow researchers to call somewhere home for a few years, flexibility in work patterns on returning to work after having a child, or access to funds that allow a carer to travel to a conference with an academic to look after a child, research can be opened up to a wider range of people. However, the wider culture of academia also needs to change. Condemning the often elitist and exclusionary culture within research is nothing new, but it is something that Kewley and many others are trying to combat. The Wellcome Trust recently published the results of their Research Culture survey. Over 4,000 respondents from across the world confirmed the fact that this culture is leading to bullying, harassment, and mental health issues in academia.

By using her platform to discuss these issues more openly, today Kewley is not only being celebrated for her ground-breaking research, but also for her work in helping others achieve their research goals. Simply put, a more diverse workforce can better identify challenges in society that researchers need to tackle, and can also approach problems in a range of ways, and with the priorities of different stakeholders in mind. By widening our pool of talent, only then can research be the best it can be. It is through hard work and the support of many role models, collaborators and colleagues that Kewley has built her research credibility and her platform. It is encouraging to see that Kewley has chosen to also use this platform to hold the gates open for many more brilliant astronomers of the future.