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Science Penny Sackett is Australia's new chief scientist: full time
Science Penny Sackett is Australia's new chief scientist: full time | Penny Sackett is Australia's new chief scientist: full time |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Tuesday, 30 September 2008 | |
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He added: "Boosting the role from part-time to full-time demonstrates the store the Rudd Government places in high-calibre, independent, scientific advice...Professor Sackett will have a vital role in raising awareness of emerging issues in science, engineering and innovation. She will encourage young Australians to see science as an exciting career option." The role of the chief scientist was created in 1989 and Sackett will be the sixth holder of the post. Her predecessor, appointed in March 2006 after the post had been vacant for six months, lost no time in stirring up controversy: within a day he was making headlines advocating expanded use of nuclear power and a wider use of genetically modified crops. Prior to his appointment he had criticised the government for not making the post full time. According to the minister's announcement, Sackett is "an accomplished cross-disciplinary scientist with a record of academic excellence on three continents...highly respected in the national and international communities of science and technology, both for her research and her proven experience in research management." Sackett was director of the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories from 2002 to 2007 and remains a professor in the School. She is a member of the Australian and American Astronomical Societies, the International Astronomical Union, the Association for Women in Science and an elected international fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. She is also involved in governance of the Gemini Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute and a director of the Giant Magellan Telescope, a project to build the world's most powerful optical telescope. Sackett was born in Nebraska and is a physicist by training and an astronomer by profession, but "considers herself an educator by inclination." Her PhD is in theoretical physics but she is also to teach science and mathematics at primary and secondary school levels The role of the chief scientist was created in 1989 and Sackett will be the sixth holder of the poster career includes science journalism and service on Australian, Dutch, European, and US science advisory panels.
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