Staff

Jason is the Course Leader for the distance learning programme. Jason is a member of the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute's Stellar Astrophysics group. His particular research interest is Observational Star Formation. He is module tutor for IT for astronomy and Exploring the Solar System

Derek teaches across a rage of subjects in Physics and Astrophysics. His particular expertise lies in the fields of star and planet formation, as well as interstellar magnetic fields, from the most diffuse regions of space to the dense environments around the event horizons of black holes. He is part of the 'Event Horizon Telescope Consortium', which published the first ever image of a black hole in April 2019. He is the module tutor for Extreme States of Matter.

Trained as a plasma physicist with experience at Imperial College and JET, Silvia has research interests in Solar Physics. She studies solar flares and the energetic particles they generate, as well as the Sun's magnetic field as it emerges from the photosphere. She has been module leader for Sun, Earth & Climate and Solar Astrophysics.

Cristina is research active within the area of astrophysics and is a member of the Extragalactic Astrophysics Research Group. Cristina Popescu leads the Interstellar Medium Group, which investigates the formation and evolution of galaxies by studying the detailed physical processes that take place in these complex systems related to the interaction of radiation with dust, gas and cosmic rays. Currently Cristina is teaching in the Physics and Astrophysics team. She is the module tutor for Introduction to Cosmology and Cosmology and Relativity.

Victor leads the Galaxy Dynamics Group, which studies the formation and evolution of galaxies on scales spanning the range from nuclei to bulges, discs and on to their dark matter halos. His research uses state-of-the-art supercomputer simulations and modelling techniques. Victor is a full member of the LSST collaboration and co-leading the Milky Way bulge sub-group. He is also interested in the comparison of simulations with observations, including using Hubble Space Telescope data. Victor is module tutor for The Milky Way, and Galaxies Beyond the Milky Way.

Anne studies the chemical evolution of galaxies, with the ultimate aim of understanding how galaxies form and develop. This requires expertise in spectroscopy in order to extract information about the elements present in the galaxies she observes. This comes to the fore in the topics she supervises in Origins and Collaborative Investigations. Anne is also module tutor for Investigations in Astronomy and UVOIR.

Dimitris Stamatellos is a Reader in Astrophysics at the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute. His research interests are wide covering star formation, exoplanets, planet formation and migration, brown dwarfs and low-mass stars, protoplanetary discs, binary stars, gravitational instabilities, computational hydrodynamics and radiative transfer. He is the module tutor for Introduction to Astrobiology.

Brett teaches across a wide range of subjects on our courses in physics, astrophysics, and mathematics, covering both theoretical and experimental aspects of physics. He’s previoulsy worked on image processing at the Mullard Radioastronomy Observatory in Cambridge, and then optical instrumentation for astronomy at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre, at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. He’s recently been working on inferring physical properties from the black-hole images of the Event Horizon Telescope. He is the module tutor for Energy, Matter and Universe

Megan is a professional astrophysicist and science communicator. She studies galaxies in the nearby universe with radio telescopes and gives public lectures and schools workshops all over the country. She is module tutor for Introduction to Astronomy, the coordinator for the Astronomy Dissertation module, and is also a supervisor on this module.

Dr Joanne Pledger is a senior lecturer in Astrophysics at UCLan teaching on the on-campus and distance learning degree programs. She is research active with a focus on the evolution of massive stars, in particular the death of massive stars as supernovae, and is a member of the Stellar Astrophysics research group. Joanne is also passionate about public engagement and widening participation which she continues at UCLan working with the Ogden Trust and other groups. Joanne believes that science should be accessible to all, irrelevant of background and aims to enthuse and inspire young children and encourage them to engage with science. She contributes to the Collaborative Investigation.

Mark is research active within the area of astrophysics, with a particular focus on the observational study of the formation and evolution of massive star clusters and galaxies, and is a member of the Extragalactic Astrophysics Research Group. He is responsible for the new Plane Wave telescope at the Alston Observatory. He contributes to the Collaborative Investigation and Origins modules where he leads groups and has supervised distance learning students' dissertations.

Timo works with Prof Silvia Dalla on Solar energetic particles (SEPs). He started his career with the SOHO spacecraft particle instrument ERNE, and works both SEP observations, and used computer simulations trying to understand how and where the SEPs originate, and how they get from the Sun to Earth. He is the module tutor for Sun, Earth and Climate and Solar Astrophysics

Barbara has contributed to most of the modules, (authoring or editing) and developed many of the support systems we operate to help students through their studies. She is now retired, but is still around as a visiting fellow.