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Institute of Astronomy

 

I am the public astronomer at the IoA, and an astrophysicist by training. I am in charge of public engagement activities at the IoA, which includes running our schools outreach programme, our winter stargazing events, and more. I also support IoA researchers who want to engage the public with their research.

I am an experienced science communicator and science writer. I give public lectures (past venues include the Royal Institution, New Scientist, the Royal Astronomical Society, and the British Astronomical Association), and my science writing has appeared in New Scientist, The Daily Beast, Aeon magazine, The Guardian, Writer's Digest, and more. 

I am the author of the popular astronomy book 'The Invisible Universe: Why There’s More to Reality than Meets the Eye' (2021, Oneworld).


My working hours are quite irregular -- I spend a lot of my time out visiting schools, or running evening stargazing events, so I'm not guaranteed to be in the IoA during office hours. I have an availability calendar which tracks when I'm in the department: 

https://people.ast.cam.ac.uk/~bothwell/Calendar

Biography

  • 2021 - present Public Astronomer, University of Cambridge
  • 2018 - 2021 Outreach facilitator, University of Cambridge
  • 2017 - 2018 Outreach assistant, University of Cambridge
  • 2012 - 2017 Postdoctoral researcher, University of Cambridge
  • 2011 - 2012 Postdoctoral researcher,  University of Arizona
  • 2007 - 2011 STFC PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge

 

Publications

Public Astronomer

Contact Details

Hoyle H59
(3)39279

Affiliations

Classifications: