Kirsten Banks

I will be Australia's Brian Cox!

Kirsten Banks

Aboriginal Astronomer

About Me

Kirsten Banks is a proud Wiradjuri woman. Growing up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Kirsten always had a fascination with the sky and after graduating from Davidson High School in 2014 she pursued a Bachelor degree of Science with a major in Physics at the University of New South Wales. Within her first year of tertiary study, Kirsten was awarded an Astronomy Educator position at Sydney Observatory. It was at Sydney Observatory where Kirsten first sought out to determine where she and her ancestors came from. She learned she is of Wiradjuri descendent. Since discovering this, Kirsten has been developing her knowledge in Aboriginal Astronomy, how her great ancestors utilised the sky in many different ways.

Kirsten loves to share her experiences and growing knowledge of space and Aboriginal Astronomy. Her debut began when COSMOS Magazine published a profile article on her in February 2017. Following this, she has been included in many newspaper and web articles from the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian, and ABC News. Kirsten has also been featured on NITV News and SBS World News, and most recently she was broadcasted nation-wide Japan expressing her love for Aboriginal Astronomy on Japanese Documentary Cosmic Front: Next. Kirsten wishes to become a famous Science Communicator and so jumps at almost any opportunity to speak publicly. She has spoken publicly during National Science Week 2017 and NAIDOC Week 2017 where she hosted a number of Aboriginal Astronomy workshops for both children and adults, as well as speaking at UNSW Science’s Women on Mars event, inspiring young girls into pursuing a career in STEM. Kirsten is also a 2017 CSIRO Indigenous STEM Award finalist.

If you’d like to follow and support Kirsten’s journey to becoming a great Science Communicator, you can like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter with the tag @AstroKirsten.

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