Director's Message

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue31 1–31 August 2022

COVID-19

Conference season is now in full swing. People have attended the ASA annual science meeting, the biennial SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation conference, and many other meetings large and small. Several RSAA staff and students are currently taking part in the triennial IAU General Assembly in Busan, Korea. From first-hand experience, we have been learning about the effectiveness of in-person events like these at spreading COVID, with a significant number of RSAA people falling ill at the ASA and SPIE meetings. I therefore urge you to take strong precautions to try and keep COVID-safe: wear a mask whenever possible in shared indoor settings; use RATs regularly; don’t travel if you feel unwell or show any symptoms. Of course you also need to follow all the local rules and guidelines relating to COVID wherever you are, and report to your supervisor and to ANU if you do fall ill (see https://www.anu.edu.au/covid-19-advice). Finally, think about need and consequences beforehand, and only go to conferences that are really important to you - not only will this reduce your COVID risk, the global climate will thank you as well!

RSAA Strategic Initiatives 2022

Thanks to everyone who submitted a proposal to the RSAA Strategic Initiatives 2022 program. Eight proposals were received by the deadline, requesting a total of $262k. A subcommittee of the RSAA Executive will review the proposals and make recommendations to the next meeting of the full Executive on 19 August. Feedback on proposals should be provided to all proposers soon thereafter.

Matthew Colless