What vision of humanity do we want to take with us beyond Earth?
This NAIDOC Week, join us for a First Peoples Astronomy Panel in partnership with the International Society for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture / OXFORD XIII / IAU SYMPOSIUM 399.
We are living in the Space Age. For 24 years astronauts have been living and working in space onboard the International Space Station, while China’s Tiangong space station has been permanently crewed since June 2022. Significant advances in space exploration are working towards building habitats for humans on the Moon and Mars.
But reaching for the stars is not just a technological and scientific endeavour. The social and philosophical implications of becoming a spacefaring peoples are just as important.
Beyond the conquest of space, might we forge a new path that emphasises diverse perspectives, First Peoples cultures, sustainability and ethics.
The host of the evening will be Kiowa Scott-Hurley, a Dja Dja Wurrung woman who spends her 9-5 leading a team of awesome Machine Learning engineers at the Defence Science and Technology Group. Her unique mix of skills across ML, Cybersec and HPC means you can always catch her grumbling something about GPU drivers. In her free time, you’ll find her covertly drawing comics during boring meetings, using LLMs for evil, and getting nerd-sniped by malware analysis.
Krystal De Napoli, a Gomeroi woman, is an award-winning author, radio host and science communicator. Krystal is a passionate advocate for Indigenous knowledges and equity in STEM and advocates for the preservation of the night sky and its important cultural heritage.
Professor Deen Sanders OAM, a proud Worimi man, is Lead Partner of Deloitte: Integrity, Leader in the Deloitte Space Practice and a global leader in Indigenous knowledge, lore and law. He advocates for the integration of ethics and Indigenous cultures in shaping the future of humanity’s responsibilities for land, sea and sky country.
Christian Maskey is an Indigenous man with family connections to Gamilaraay, Gumbaynggirr, and Ngarabal countries in regional NSW. He is the founder of a passion project, SpaceBridge, advocating for a thriving and innovative space community through education to reflect the diverse abilities of First Nations peoples.
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