Dr Kirsten Banks first fell in love with physics as a student at Davidson High School when visiting the Imax theatre to see a documentary about the Hubble Space Telescope.
“I was enthralled by how much we can learn from distant objects just by looking at their light. And from that moment I wanted to study the universe and be an astrophysicist,” she said.
Fortunately for Dr Banks, the lessons provided by Mr Alan Ferris nurtured her passion for learning and for physics.
“He went further than just the syllabus and the textbook. He was very practical and hands on with showing us how physics worked,” she said, explaining how Mr Ferris once got students to push each other around in a wheeled office chair to explain the forces of friction.
“Those sorts of practical examples let us see physics in the real world and really helped me conceptualise physics and understand it at a more intuitive level,” Dr Banks said.
Dr Banks completed a PhD in astrophysics, where she studied two types of red giant star to understand more about the history of the galaxy.
“I found the very slight differences between two different types of red giant stars can help us distinguish them really effectively.
“Some are useful to map the galaxy and then work out its history, and as they are like a cosmic streetlight, we can use their apparent brightness to work out their very precise locations,” Dr Banks said.
Dr Banks she believes the impact of a great teacher like Mr Ferris of Davidson High School is crucial to future direction.
“Having a really nurturing and influential teacher makes a big difference.”
Fun fact: one of the Snowy 2.0 (not so) boring machines is named after Dr Kirsten Banks!