Dr. Belinda Wilkes, Senior Astrophysicist and Director of the Chandra X-ray Center; Kim Kowal Arcand, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; and Mary MacDonald, McAuliffe Center
This event will feature a short introduction by Dr. Belinda Wilkes, Senior Astrophysicist and Director of the Chandra X-ray Center. After Dr. Wilkes’ introduction, Kim Kowal Arcand and Mary MacDonald will present an original, full dome planetarium production they created to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Sponsored by: McAuliffe Center and the MetroWest STEM Education Network
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Dr. Belinda Wilkes is the Director of NASA's Chandra X-ray Center and a Senior Astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). She is also an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, UK. She was born in England, obtained a BSc in Astronomy and Physics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, UK. She then moved to the USA, spending 2 years as a NATO postdoctoral fellow at the Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, before moving to the High Energy Astrophysics Division at the CfA.
Kimberly Kowal Arcand is the Visualization Lead for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has its headquarters at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA. She is a leading expert in studying the perception and comprehension of high-energy data visualization across the novice-expert spectrum. She has spear-headed the creation, distribution, and evaluation of large-scale science and technology communications projects. As a science data “story teller,” she combines her background in molecular biology and computer science with her current work in the fields of astronomy and physics.
Mary MacDonald is the Planetarium Educator at the Christa McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning. She has been teaching science, in and out of the dome, for almost 10 years.