Lisa Jennifer Kewley (born 1974) is an Australian Astrophysicist and current Director of the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. Previously, Kewley was Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3-D (ASTRO 3-D) and ARC Laureate Fellow at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, where she was also a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

. Specialising in galaxy evolution, she won the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 2005 for her studies of oxygen in galaxies, and the

Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy The Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy is awarded annually by the American Astronomical Society to a young (less than age 36) astronomer for outstanding achievement in observational astronomical research. The prize is named after Newton Lacy Pier ...

in 2008. In 2014 she was elected a

fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy ...

. In 2020 she received the

James Craig Watson Medal image:Watson_medal_NAS.gif, 400px, James Craig Watson Medal The James Craig Watson Medal was established by the bequest of James Craig Watson, an astronomer the University of Michigan between 1863 and 1879, and is awarded every 1-4 years by the U.S. ...

. In 2021 she was elected as an international member of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2022 she became the first female director of the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian.

Life

Kewley was raised in South Australia. Her parents encouraged engagement with the sciences and she was influenced by a high school physics teacher, and participation at a school stargazing camp, to become interested in astronomy. After school, she enrolled in a Bachelor of Science at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, graduating with a BSc (Hons) in astrophysics. She then moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

to pursue a doctorate in astrophysics at the

, which was awarded in 2002. In 2001, she spent some time in the United States as a visiting scholar at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. During this time she co-authored a paper in ''

The Astrophysical Journal ''The Astrophysical Journal'' (''ApJ'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astrophysics and astronomy, established in 1895 by American astronomers George Ellery Hale and James Edward Keeler. The journal discontinued its print edition and ...

'', called "Theoretical Modeling of

Starburst Galaxies A starburst galaxy is one undergoing an exceptionally high rate of star formation, as compared to the long-term average rate of star formation in the galaxy, or the star formation rate observed in most other galaxies. For example, the star format ...

", which as of 2016 was her most-cited publication. After completing her doctorate, Kewley moved to the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on a CfA fellowship, working on the formation and

evolution of stars Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes over the course of time. Depending on the mass of the star, its lifetime can range from a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for the least massive, which is consi ...

. Her mentors there included American astrophysicist

Margaret Geller Margaret J. Geller (born December 8, 1947) is an American astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. Her work has included pioneering maps of the nearby universe, studies of the relationship between galaxies and their ...

. Awarded a

Hubble postdoctoral fellowship The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for the ...

in 2004, she then continued her work at the Institute for Astronomy at the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

in 2005. Kewley was part of a team that used re-analysis of a

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...

image to identify a distant galaxy 9.3 billion light years distant. She then worked with the

W. M. Keck Observatory The W. M. Keck Observatory is an astronomical observatory with two telescopes at an elevation of 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Both telescopes have aperture primary mirrors, and, when c ...

Mauna Kea Mauna Kea (, ; abbreviation for ''Mauna a Wākea''); is a dormant Shield volcano, shield volcano on the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii. Its peak is above sea level, making it the List of U.S. states by elevation, highest point in Hawaii a ...

, analysing data on the oxygen content of this and other galaxies of different ages, contributing to the understanding of their evolution. For this research, in 2005 she received the

Annie Jump Cannon Annie Jump Cannon (; December 11, 1863 – April 13, 1941) was an American astronomer whose cataloging work was instrumental in the development of contemporary stellar classification. With Edward C. Pickering, she is credited with the creation of ...

Award in Astronomy. There was further recognition of her work in 2008, when Kewley won the

, awarded by the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

. The award was for her research "that has shown how the properties of a galaxy depend on how long ago it was formed". Her work studied the variation in properties of old and new galaxies, including oxygen richness, star formation rate, and the characteristics of the galaxy's nucleus. In 2011, Kewley returned to Australia as a professor for the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the

. In 2014, Kewley was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. She was chosen to deliver the 2018 Harley Wood lecture, an annual event of the Astronomical Society of Australia, on the topic of oxygen and stars. She was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

in 2020. Kewley developed the proposal for, and is director of, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics, based at Mount Stromlo. She married her husband Reuben in

in 2001, shortly before they moved to Massachusetts. They have a son (born 2008) and a daughter (born 2011), both born when she was living and working in Hawai'i.

References

External links

Hawaii University page for Lisa KewleyAustralian National University page for Lisa Kewley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kewley, Lisa 1974 births Living people 21st-century Australian astronomers 21st-century Australian women scientists Australian National University alumni Australian women astronomers Australian astronomers Recipients of the Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy Academic staff of the Australian National University University of Adelaide alumni Hubble Fellows Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Australian women academics Fellows of the Royal Society of New South Wales Recipients of the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy