Meganne Christian prepares to defy gravity in a training exercise with colleagues from the European Space Agency team. The reserve astronaut will be in Canberra on 11 August to speak at the Shine Dome. Photo: Facebook.
When the first Australian woman selected by the European Space Agency to join its reserve astronaut team visits Canberra next month, it will be almost like coming home.
Dr Meganne Christian lived in Canberra in 2014 after she completed her PhD and has fond memories of the nation’s capital and its locals – and not all of them academic. In between her studies, Dr Christian joined the Brindabella Chorus, a women’s a cappella group based in Canberra which performs and competes in competitions in Australia and overseas.
As part of Science Week 2023, she has been invited to give a talk at the Australian Academy of Science’s Shine Dome in Canberra on 11 August about her career – so far.
“I’m so excited to come back to Australia,” Dr Christian said from her new home in the UK.
“I’ve been away a long time now but it still feels like home and I can’t wait to catch up with friends and family – they are definitely what I miss most.”
Since she left Australia, Dr Christian has been travelling the world, literally from top to bottom, in her role as both scientist and astronaut.
It began after she graduated in 2009 with first-class honours from the University of NSW, with a Bachelor of Engineering in industrial chemistry. From 2010 to 2014, she completed her doctorate at the University of NSW and received her PhD in industrial chemistry along with several scholarships, including the UNSW Research Excellence Award. She also spent much of 2018 as a winter-over scientist at the Concordia Station in Antarctica and, more recently, with the National Research Council in Italy as a materials scientist and atmospheric physicist.
It’s been this strong connection with the University of NSW, and Italy, that brings the scientist back to Australia – and Canberra.
“It is such an honour for me to be asked by my alma mater to return,” she said of the University of NSW.
“And to be hosted by the Italian Embassy and the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra is the icing on the cake.”
In her Canberra talk, From Antarctica to Space via Bologna, Dr Christian will speak about the journey that took her from Wollongong, on the NSW South Coast, to being named the first Australian woman in the reserve astronaut team for the European Space Agency, including a stopover in one of the most remote places on earth, Concordia Station in Antarctica, to Bologna, Italy for that country’s National Research Council.
She will also speak about her most recent move to the UK, to work with that country’s space agency. In this new role, she’ll be working on a variety of outreach programs, all designed to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and space enthusists.
Most recently, she was invited to Buckingham Palace where she met King Charles – and two of her astronaut heroes – Tim Peake and Chris Hadfield.
“I haven’t had what you would call a traditional career path,” Dr Christian said.
“I would love people to see that a few twists and turns are a good thing, and allow us to consider new perspectives and solve problems in new ways.”
So what does this woman of many talents do in her brief downtime whilst in Canberra?
“I’m sneaking in a coaching weekend with Brindabella Chorus, too, as we will be competing at internationals again this year and I have only managed to join them remotely until now.”
What it is about space that has intrigued this scientist who, in her spare time, climbs mountains, knits, sings, plays music, goes whitewater rafting and scuba diving, holds a black belt in Korean martial art – and enjoys family life with her partner Liam Wyatt and their dog Matilda?
In her downtime, Meganne Christian, partner Liam Wyatt and their dog Matilda love exploring – on the ground. Photo: Liam Wyatt.
“I’ve always been fascinated by space, especially when I had the chance to visit places like the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC and the Kennedy Space Centre in Washington, but I never really thought of it as a career path for me.
“I don’t know whether that is just because my interests took me elsewhere or beause I actually didn’t feel the opportunity existed. Perhaps a mixture of both. It has only been in the past five years or so that it has really become my goal.”
So where does she see herself in five years’ time?
“Hopefully, on a mission to the International Space Station!”
Tickets for Dr Christian’s Canberra talk, From Antartica to space via Bologna, are now available online.
Dr Christian will also be participating in a range of events and activities in Sydney as part of National Science Week, which runs from 12–20 August 2023. More information is available here.
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