The Orbyts Leadership Team
Bio
Dr William Dunn
Orbyts Director
I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to coordinate the Orbyts programme since 2017. Orbyts was also run by the fantastic Dr Jon Holdship and Lucinda Offer during 2018, while I was based in the US, and was founded in 2015 by Dr Laura McKemmish, Dr Clara Sousa-Silva, Prof. J. Tennyson and many others. During my time running Orbyts, I've been lucky to see hundreds of passionate and inspiring young people discover new things about the Universe and to see the programme flourish and grow to a national scale. I currently hold an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship, within which I work as an astrophysicist X-raying other planets (see the Orbyts project on Jupiter's aurora for more on this, or some of my research here: 1, 2, 3 ). Before my ERF, I held a fellowship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US, and a European Space Agency NPI fellowship at ESAC (Spain) and at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (UK), where I undertook my PhD and held a PDRA role. Prior to my PhD, I launched programmes for Amazon and spent 6 years working on shop floors for Arcadia Group, All Saints and Megacity, while doing my degree at UCL. At various points in life I've been a semi-professional dancer, a semi-professional MtG player, a school governor and, in between, I've tried to see as much of the world as life would let me.
Dr Abbie Bray
Co-Director of Orbyts & Joint Head of Teaching and Learning and LCN and Quantum Hub Lead
I am Dr Abbie Bray, a lecturer in Quantum Technologies at UCL and a co-director for the EPSRC CDT in Quantum Communications and Quantum Computation. My research background is Attosecond Physics with a particular focus on theoretical approaches to diverse atomic geometries and plasmonic enhancements in a laser field. My day to day mostly involves teaching, managing over 60 PhD students and EDI/strategy for quantum technology efforts in the UK.
As a queer working-class woman in science, I have always felt like the outsider and have faced many challenges within my career due to my protective characteristics. In particular, my socio-economic background feels very unique in my sector of academia. This is why my work in running and championing Orbyts is so important to me.
Christian Lao
Head of Teaching and Learning
I am a PhD candidate studying the interaction between Earth’s magnetic field and the Solar Wind, focused on a phenomenon called “Substorms”. I did my undergraduate Masters at the University of Glasgow studying Mathematics and Physics finishing in 2021 when I joined UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory to pursue my PhD. I have also been part of Maths Week Scotland, creating a library of resources to improve mathematics engagement and accessibility in Scottish Primary schools.
Dr Mark Fuller
Head of Evaluation and Impact
Mark studied Astrophysics at the University of Leicester eventually going on to gain a PhD in computational modelling, however it was working on outreach projects engaging young people in science that gave him the biggest joy. He is proud to be able to continue sharing his efforts through the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCL and the Ogden Trust by supporting fellow academics sharing their passion and enthusiasm with the next generations.
Alex Thompson
Astrophysics Hub Lead
Bio
Marc Amil
LiDO Hub Lead
Bio
Alvarro Gonzalez Grajalez
Medical Physics Hub Lead
I am Alvaro, a Colombian physicist and biomedical engineer. After a couple of years working in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industry in Bogota, I moved to London to do a master's in Biomaterials and tissue engineering at UCL where I started my research on bone and cartilage regeneration at UCL and the Royal National Orthopaedics Hospital. Currently, I am a second-year PhD student in the Advanced X-ray Imaging group at UCL under the supervision of Professor Marco Endrizzi, where I’m using multi-contrast imaging techniques to observe the microstructure of the bone and cartilage and understand the repopulation of cells into tissue-engineered scaffolds.
​
Back in Colombia, I had the opportunity to engage for the first time in programs for teaching math and science in schools, helping me realised how much I enjoyed making science accessible and fun for everyone. In Orbyts, I’m in charge of the Medical Physics Hub and I am leading a project on soft and hard tissue imaging where students are researching the ability of X-rays to produce 3D and non-destructive images of biological tissues. One of the most amazing parts of my project is that is being conducted by students with a Latin American background, so that I can also support their learning process of English as a second language.
Connor Ballard
Mullard Space Science Laboratory Hub Lead
Bio
Dr Michaela Mooney
University of Leicester Hub Lead
I recently completed my PhD at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL and I’m now working as a researcher at the University of Leicester. The Sun is a massive ball of plasma with a huge magnetic field that fills the entire Solar System. The Earth also has a substantial magnetic field known as the magnetosphere that protects us and our technology by deflecting the Sun’s magnetic field around the Earth. My research focusses on studying the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s magnetosphere. I use images of the northern lights, or the aurora, and other measurements taken by satellites in space to study how the Earth’s magnetosphere responds to the constant bombardment of the Sun’s magnetic field. Understanding the interaction between the Sun and Earth’s magnetic fields helps us to predict the how our magnetosphere responds and prevent damage to technology and infrastructure at Earth caused by particles and radiation in near-Earth space, known as space weather.
Shannon Killey
Northumbria University Hub Lead
Shannon Bio
Marina Lafarga Magro
University of Warwick Co-Hub Lead
Bio
Yoshi Eschen
University of Warwick Co-Hub Lead
Bio
Karen Devoil
Role
Bio
Wakami Soh
Social Media Lead
Bio
Prof Jonathan Tennyson
Co-Founder
I am Massey Professor of Physics in the UCL's Department of Physics and Astronomy, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. I am co-founder and Chair of Blue Skies Space Ltd which aims to provide rapidly-delivered, cost-effective space science facilities with the Twinkle exoplanet characterisation mission as its first major project. My research involves using quantum mechanics to solve problems with real world significance including studies of processes involved in climate change (precisely how much light does one molecule of carbon dioxide absorb?), providing data to model technological plasma such as those used in etching silicon chips used in computers, phones, etc. and, of course, astrophysics. I was Head of Department until 2011 and I stepped down to run the European Research Council (ERC) funded ExoMol project (www.exomol.com).ExoMol aims to provide the necessary laboratory data to allow us characterise exoplanets. With my former PhD student Clara Sousa-Silva, I launched the ORBYTS project in 2015 for which the original projects were strongly focused about supporting ExoMol and the original tutors were all members of my research group.