We are happy to congratulate our two PhD graduates and one MSc graduate, who were awarded their degrees at the ceremony on the 13th December.
Dr Raeesa Parker’s PhD was on “Radio Observations of discs around young stellar objects”, under the supervision of Prof. Derek Ward-Thompson. Raeesa was very excited about her graduation: “Doing a PhD in Astrophysics was one of the best experiences of my life… I ‘ve grown so much as a researcher but also as a person. This experience has changed my life! Thank you to the department, the tutors and all the friends that I ‘ve made”. Raeesa will take the skills that she developed during her PhD and move into software and web development.
Dr Saul Phiri PhD was on “The properties of giant molecular clouds in nearby galaxies and their environmental variation”. Saul is from Zambia and the road to the PhD has been an amazing one: “I’m really happy to graduate with a PhD in astrophysics. I didn’t know anything about this topic when I was growing up in the rural parts of my country, but I remember it was impressive looking up at the sky and see all these stars.” Saul did an MSc degree in the field of Cosmology and then was awarded a DARA scholarship to pursue a PhD in Astrophysics at UCLAN, under the supervision of Dr. Jason Kirk. Saul is joining academia to teach at the Copperbelt University, Zambia, and he will continue his research in Astrophysics. His dream is to develop Astrophysics courses in Zambia.
Mr Chris Everest (MSc Astrophysics) worked under the supervision of Dr Megan Argo on a site survey of Alston Observatory for his MSc, looking at and mapping the sources of radio frequency interference across the site to help with planning for a small radio telescope which we hope to construct in the near future.
Left: PhD graduates Paul Phiri and Raeesa Parker Right: MSc graduate Chris Everest with JHI Director Derek Ward-Thompson.