Director's Message
Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue40 1–31 May 2023
Welcome to the May Lunations. I have now spent my first full month as RSAA Director and have greatly enjoyed my many conversations as I come to grips with so many exciting RSAA projects. In the coming week we will call for strategic initiatives. This will be the main callout for all non-grant-related funding initiatives in 2023, and includes funding events that you would like to hold, capital expenditure items, equipment/facility purchases or upgrades or any other initiatives that are not currently funded. If you have any questions or would like to bounce some initial ideas, please talk to myself, Mat Malzacher or Sindu Nair. I look forward to reading the proposals in June!
This month the ANYou survey results are being made available. Directors have received training on how to access the results for Schools and we will present these at the next all School meeting.
A reminder that the conference “Galaxy Transformation Across Space and Time” is coming up in September. This is the 3rd Australia-ESO meeting and will be an important conference for showcasing Australian Astronomy’s success and potential with ESO telescopes. The event is being co-Chaired by Emily Wisnioski and Trevor Mendel and is being held in The Shine Dome. The abstract deadline is Monday, May 8th.
As advertised by Chris Lidman SSO opens its doors to the public during the Saturday of the NSW labour day long weekend for Starfest, and about 2,000 people come to see the telescopes and learn about what astronomers do. This year the event will be held on Saturday, September 30. We are looking for volunteers to help run the event. Please contact Zoe Holcombe Zoe.Holcombe@anu.edu.au if you are interested in volunteering. ANU will cover your travel and accommodation costs. I will be going and am looking forward to my first Starfest.
Finally, the RSAA Executive has welcomed back Naomi McClure-Griffiths who is returning to her role as Associate Director (Academic). Many thanks to Mark Krumholz for his work in this portfolio during Naomi’s time as acting Director.
Stuart Wyithe
