Congratulations to Alexia Lopez, Mark Norris, Charlotte Proverbs and Joanne Pledger for their success at the University’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Awards.
Alexia Lopez was awarded the Rising Early Career Research Star Award for her work on large-scale cosmological structures with the citation:
“Alexia has demonstrated significant impact not only through her doctoral research, but also through the clear and sustained progression and development of her work. Her work has achieved a global reach, contributing to a shift in how this particular area is understood and approached, ultimately reshaping perceptions and practice within the field.”
Commenting on her success, Alexia said, “I’m delighted to receive this award. Seeing research that started during my PhD make a meaningful contribution beyond academia has been hugely rewarding, and I’m very grateful to everyone who has supported and encouraged me along the way.”
Mark Norris, Charlotte Proverbs and Joanne Pledger were awarded the Public and Community Engagement Project of the Year for their leadership of the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute’s astronomy outreach program at Alston Observatory with the citation:
“The statistical evidence is excellent, highlighting strong participation rates and significant community engagement, particularly among younger audiences.”
Joanne welcomed the news saying, “It is a huge honour for our astronomy outreach work with community groups to be recognised like this. We love sharing our passion for astronomy with younger audiences and are proud to have supported hundreds of brownies, cubs, guides and scouts to achieve their astronomy badges.” Mark added, “Alston observatory is a fantastic astronomy teaching facility, and it has been great to have been able to open it up to the community and help ignite people’s passion for the stars.” Charlotte concluded by saying, “Our outreach events are a huge team effort across the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, and we would like to thank all staff and research students that have supported events this year and in previous years.”
Derek Ward-Thompson commented, “As Director of the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, I’m very proud of my colleagues for winning these awards. They recognise all the incredibly hard work that they have put into their research and outreach. This epitomises what the JHI is all about.”
Image caption: Success for Alexia, Charlotte, Mark, and Joanne at the RKE Awards