Director's Message

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue45 1–31 October 2023

September was bookended by two large School events. At the start of the month The 3rd Australia-ESO meeting, Galaxy Transformation Across Space and Time was held in the Shine Dome. This was a significant international conference and a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues and learn about the latest in the field. Congratulations to Emily Wisnioski and Trevor Mendel for organising this fabulous meeting.

Another highlight of September was the Starfest Open Day at Siding Springs this past weekend. It was fantastic to see so many people at the observatory. I spoke with many people on the day who were having a great day and were impressed by the organisation and quality of the event. I would like to extend my thanks to all those who volunteered to make this happen. Special thanks to the panellists on Friday at Science in the pub, including Brad Tucker and Andrew Battisti who answered the hard questions with humour and clarity, and Zoe Holcombe who seemingly effortlessly pulled the entire event together. 

The School is now commencing our strategic planning process, beginning with town hall discussions for different portfolios within the School during the coming months. Our Associate Directors and the SSO and AITC Directors will be leading these town hall discussions and will communicate their plans in the next few weeks, including for SSO on November 24. I encourage everyone to engage with these discussions and look forward to working with you all towards planning of RSAA’s future.

Stuart Wyithe