Carolin Susan Crawford is a British communicator of science, astrophysicist researcher, lecturer and academic based at the Institute of Astronomy and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.[1]
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Crawford received a BA Hons in Mathematics Newnham College, Cambridge in 1985. In 1988 she received her PhD from Newnham College and the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge. She progressed through a series of postdoctoral and research fellowships at Balliol College, Oxford, the Institute of Astronomy, Trinity Hall and Newnham College, University of Cambridge. From 1996 to 2007 she was a Royal Society Research Fellow.
In 2004 she was appointed as a Fellow and College Lecturer at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where she is now also the undergraduate Admissions Tutor for the Physical Sciences. She currently holds this position in conjunction with her role as Outreach Officer at the Institute of Astronomy, which she first took on in 2005.
In 2011 she was appointed Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, a position in which she will deliver free public lectures within the City of London[3].
As stated on her page on the Emmanuel College website, Crawford’s “primary research interests are in combining X-ray, optical and near-infrared observations to study the physical processes occurring around massive galaxies at the core of clusters of galaxies. In particular, she observes the complex interplay between the hot intra-cluster medium, filaments of warm ionized gas, cold molecular clouds, star formation and the radio plasma flowing out from the central supermassive black hole.” [4]
Crawford delivers public lectures, talks, workshops and debates throughout the UK and beyond on wide range of topics within astronomy. She regularly delivers such science outreach presentations to over 4,000 people annually. She is a regular in broadcast media, with numerous appearances on programmes such as In Our Time and Home Planet on BBC Radio 4 alone.
In 2009 Crawford was recognized for her outstanding abilities at science communication by a Women of Outstanding Achievement Award by the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology, presented for “communication of science with a contribution to society.” [5]