Bryan Malcolm Gaensler | |
|---|---|
 Bryan Gaensler, August 2022 | |
| Born | 1973 Sydney, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics (astrophysics) |
| Institutions | University of California, Santa Cruz |
Bryan Malcolm Gaensler (born 1973) is an Australianastronomer based at theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz. He studiesmagnetars,supernova remnants, andmagnetic fields. In 2014, he was appointed as Director of theDunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics at theUniversity of Toronto, afterJames R. Graham's departure. He was the co-chair of the Canadian 2020 Long Range Plan Committee withPauline Barmby.[1]In 2023, he was appointed as Dean of Physical and Biological Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.[2]
Gaensler was born inSydney, Australia. He attendedSydney Grammar School, and studied at the University of Sydney, graduating with aBSc withfirst class honours inphysics (1995), followed by aPhD inastrophysics (1999).[3] His PhD thesis was completed under the supervision ofAnne Green and Richard Manchester.[4]
From 1998 to 2001, Gaensler held a Hubble Fellowship at the Center for Space Research of theMassachusetts Institute of Technology.[5] In 2001 he moved to theSmithsonian Astrophysical Observatory as a Clay Fellow.[6] In 2002, he took up an appointment as anassistant professor in theDepartment of Astronomy atHarvard University.[7]
In 2006, he moved back to Sydney as anAustralian Research Council Federation Fellow in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney and in 2011 he was also appointed Director of theARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO).[8] In June 2014, Gaensler announced that he would be leaving CAASTRO and taking up a position as director of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics atThe University of Toronto[9] commencing in January 2015.
Gaensler was Editor-in-Chief ofPublications of the Astronomical Society of Australia from 2009 to 2014.[10] His contributions to PASA included redefining the scope of the journal to move away from accepting conference summaries and "intermediate results", moving to Cambridge University Press as publisher, and introducing the Dawes Reviews, named after early Australian astronomer ofWilliam Dawes.[11]
In 1997, Gaensler showed that many supernova remnants are aligned with themagnetic field of theMilky Way like "cosmiccompasses".[12] In 2000, he andDale Frail calculated that somepulsars are much older than previously believed.[13] In 2004, Gaensler used theChandra X-ray Observatory to make the first detailed study of the behavior of high-energy particles around a fast moving pulsar.[14]
In 2005, Gaensler was reported to have solved the mystery of why somesupernova explosions form magnetars while others form ordinary pulsars.[15] Later that year, he and his colleagues observed one of the brightest explosions ever observed in thehistory of astronomy, resulting from a sudden pulse ofgamma rays from the magnetarSGR 1806-20.[16] Also in 2005, he reported puzzling new observations of theLarge Magellanic Cloud, showing that powerful but unknown forces were at work in maintaining thisgalaxy's magnetic field.[17]
Gaensler was formerly the international project scientist for theSquare Kilometre Array, a next-generationradio telescope.[citation needed] He is a member of the SKA Magnetism Science Working Group.[18]
In 2011, Gaensler published his first book,Extreme Cosmos.[19]
Gaensler married Laura Beth Bugg.[20]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 A new way of looking at the sky, Bryan Gaensler,TEDx talk, 9 June 2011, 14m, 20s |
| Preceded by | Young Australian of the Year 1999 | Succeeded by |
