Jo Dunkley

OBE
Jo Dunkley delivering a plenary lecture in 2015
Born
Joanna Dunkley

1979 or 1980 (age 43–44)[2]
EducationNorth London Collegiate School[2]
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (MSci)
University of Oxford (DPhil)
SpouseFaramerz Dabhoiwala[3]
Childrentwo[3]
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsCosmology
Cosmic microwave background
Neutrinos[1]
InstitutionsPrinceton University
University of Oxford
ThesisModern methods for cosmological parameter estimation : beyond the adiabatic paradigm (2005)
Doctoral advisorPedro G. Ferreira
Websitephysics.princeton.edu/~jdunkley

Joanna Dunkley OBE is a British astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at Princeton University. She works on the origin of the Universe and the Cosmic microwave background (CMB)[4] using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, the Simons Observatory and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).[1][5]

Education

Dunkley was educated at North London Collegiate School[2] and the University of Cambridge where she graduated in 2001 with a Master of Science (MSci) degree in Natural Sciences (Theoretical Physics). She was an undergraduate student of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.[6] She moved to Oxford for postgraduate study where she awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford in 2005 for research supervised by Pedro G. Ferreira where she was a postgraduate student of Magdalen College, Oxford.[7]

Research and career

Her research is in cosmology, studying the chronology of the universe using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, the Simons Observatory, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).[8][1][5]

After her DPhil, she joined Princeton University as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2006, working with David Spergel and Lyman Page on NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP).[9][10] In an interview at Princeton in 2017, Spergel said she quickly "made major contributions to the analysis that led to the development of what we now think of as the standard model of cosmology."[9] Soon after she began working with the European Space Agency (ESA) Planck satellite,[11] which produced a higher-resolution view of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) compared to WMAP.[12]

Atacama Cosmology Telescope from distance

Dunkley moved to Oxford in 2007 and was promoted to Professor of Astrophysics in 2014.[6] Dunkley led analysis for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile, using gravitational lensing to identify dark matter.[9] At Oxford her work included constraints on the number of possible neutrino species in the world.[13] The images of the CMB, released in 2013, showed the universe at only 400,000 years old.[14] Her research combines theoretical physics with statistical analysis and uses her models to understand the universe from cosmological observations.[15] Alongside estimating how much the universe weighs, Dunkley can identify the proportions of dark energy and dark matter.[16] She used gravitational lensing within the CMB as evidence for dark energy within the universe, selected by Physics Today as a highlight of 2011.[17]

Dunkley rejoined Princeton in 2016.[18] Her new research, using the Simons Observatory, looks for "new physics, complexities and extra particles that could have existed when the universe was very young,".[19] In 2017, she was awarded the Breakthrough Prize for Physics with 22 members of the NASA WMAP Science Team.[20]

Public engagement

Dunkley has given numerous public lectures and seminars.[21] She has made appearances on BBC Stargazing Live and Dara Ó Briain's Science Club.[22][23][24] She is mentioned in Pippa Goldschmidt's I Am Because You Are: An anthology of stories celebrating the centenary of the General Theory of Relativity.[25] Her first book, Our Universe: An Astronomer's Guide was published in 2019.[2][26][27] She will deliver a series of workshops and talks for students to raise awareness of women's contributions to astronomy as part of a book tour.[19]

Awards and honours

Dunkley has won several awards and honours including:

Personal life

Dunkley has two children with her partner, the historian Faramerz Dabhoiwala.[3][2]

References

Scholia has a profile for Jo Dunkley (Q28757988).
  1. ^ a b c Jo Dunkley publications indexed by Google Scholar Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ a b c d e Law, Katie (2019). "Astrophysics professor Jo Dunkley on the complexities of the universe and her mission to get women into science". London Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Schussler, Jennifer (29 February 2012). "This Revolution Was British, Fired by Libidos". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018.
  4. ^ Staggs, Suzanne; Dunkley, Jo; Page, Lyman (2018). "Recent discoveries from the cosmic microwave background: a review of recent progress". Reports on Progress in Physics. 81 (4): 044901. Bibcode:2018RPPh...81d4901S. doi:10.1088/1361-6633/aa94d5. ISSN 0034-4885. PMID 29051392. S2CID 4028322.
  5. ^ a b Jo Dunkley publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  6. ^ a b Dunkley, Jo (2015). "Jo Dunkley CV" (PDF). princeton.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  7. ^ Dunkley, Joanna (2005). Modern methods for cosmological parameter estimation : beyond the adiabatic paradigm. copac.jisc.ac.uk (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 500732473. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.441310.
  8. ^ "Jo Dunkley – About". physics.princeton.edu. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  9. ^ a b c "Understanding the universe: Astrophysicist Dunkley shines through her research". Princeton University. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  10. ^ Komatsu, E.; Dunkley, J.; Nolta, M. R.; Bennett, C. L.; Gold, B.; Hinshaw, G.; Jarosik, N.; Larson, D.; Limon, M.; Page, L.; Spergel, D. N.; Halpern, M.; Hill, R. S.; Kogut, A.; Meyer, S. S.; Tucker, G. S.; Weiland, J. L.; Wollack, E.; Wright, E. L. (2009). "Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 180 (2): 330–376. arXiv:0803.0547. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/180/2/330. ISSN 0067-0049. S2CID 17581520.
  11. ^ Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A. J.; Barreiro, R. B.; Bartlett, J. G.; Bartolo, N.; Battaner, E.; et al. (2016). "Planck2015 results". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 594: A13. arXiv:1502.01589. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201525830. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 119262962.
  12. ^ "New view of Universe from Planck | University of Oxford Department of Physics". University of Oxford. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  13. ^ a b Anon. "2013 Maxwell medal and prize". iop.org. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  14. ^ Morgan, Gregg (21 March 2013). "New 'Big Bang' image explained: 'This is what the universe looked like'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Jo Dunkley | Voices From Oxford". voicesfromoxford.org. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Measuring the Universe". voicesfromoxford.org. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  17. ^ "Dark energy spotted in the cosmic microwave background". physicsworld.com. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  18. ^ University, Princeton. "Understanding the universe: Astrophysicist Dunkley shines through her research". research.princeton.edu. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  19. ^ a b Zen, Lillienne (2016). "The astrophysicist on a mission to get more women into physics : Soapbox Science". Nature. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Princeton scientists share Breakthrough Prize for mapping the early universe". Princeton University. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  21. ^ "Talks – Jo Dunkley". physics.princeton.edu. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  22. ^ "Our model of the Universe". nam2014.org. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Before the Beginning, After the End". iai.tv. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  24. ^ Long, Max. "BBC brings Stargazing to Oxford". cherwell.org. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  25. ^ Goldshmidt, Pippa; Hershman, Tania (2015). I am because you are : a collection of new writing. Glasgow. ISBN 978-1910449271. OCLC 931161608.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  26. ^ Dunkley, Jo (2019). Our Universe: An Astronomer's Guide. Pelican Books. ISBN 9780674984288. OCLC 1046067886. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  27. ^ "Our Universe – Jo Dunkley". hup.harvard.edu. Harvard University Press. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Breakthrough Prize – Winners of the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics And Mathematics Announced". breakthroughprize.org. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  29. ^ Anon (2018). "Professor Joanna DUNKLEY". The London Gazette. London.
  30. ^ Qian, Kristin (2017). "University scientists share $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics". The Daily Princetonian. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  31. ^ Dunkley, Joanna (2016) Our window on the Universe – Rosalind Franklin Lecture 2016 by Professor Jo Dunkley on YouTube
  32. ^ Dunkley, Jo (2016). "Our window on the Universe". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  33. ^ Anon (2015). "Joanna Dunkley". royalsociety.org. Royal Society. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  34. ^ "Awards Made 2015" (PDF). leverhulme.ac.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  35. ^ Smith, Keith. "Winners of the 2014 awards, medals and prizes – full details". ras.org.uk. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  36. ^ "NASA – NASA's WMAP Science Team Awarded 2012 Gruber Cosmology Prize". nasa.gov. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  37. ^ "European Commission : CORDIS : Projects and Results : Fundamental Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background". Europa (web portal). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  38. ^ "NASA – 2007 NASA Honor Awards Ceremony". nasa.gov. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
Categories