Short bio:
Dr Katherine (Katie) Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist. Her work focuses on finding new ways to learn about the early universe and fundamental physics using astronomical observations, probing the building blocks of nature by examining the cosmos on the largest scales. Throughout her career as a researcher at Caltech, Princeton, Cambridge, and now Melbourne University, she has studied dark matter, black holes, cosmic strings, and the formation of the first galaxies in the Universe. Katie is also an active online science communicator and is passionate about science outreach. As a science writer, she has been published by Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time.com, the Economist tech blog "Babbage", and other popular publications.
A brief, non-random sampling of some of my writing and science communication work:
- The Dark Matter Poltergeist: article for Slate.com on dark matter
- Losing Neil Armstrong: a guest blog post for the Foundational Questions Institute
- Interview on High Heels in the Lab blog
- Presentation on the likelihood of finding alien life, from the "Are We Alone?" panel discussion hosted by The Age [video]
- Interview about dark matter for Melbourne University's Up Close podcast [audio]
Spiral Galaxy M51, courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA. Just because it's awesome.