Speaker profile

Summary

Popular Science Author; Academic Lecturer; Outreach Director for University of Nottingham Physics and Astronomy Department; Royal Society Research Fellow.

Full biography

In understanding how the Universe began and grew up, we find ourselves in the dark ages, both literally and figuratively. Empty of life and structure, space was suddenly illuminated with the light of the first stars, as they roared to life 200 million years after the Big Bang. This time represents the start of the diverse and crowded cosmos we experience today… but there is a missing billion years in our understanding. What did these first stars look like? How are they different from our Sun, and are they now an extinct species? Dr Emma Chapman has taken on the challenge of exploring the Era of the First Stars using radio telescopes and stellar archaeology.

Dr Emma Chapman is a Royal Society research fellow based at the University of Nottingham, where she leads the outreach for the physics department. She is among the world’s leading researchers in search of the first stars to light up our Universe, and published her first popular science book, ‘First Light’, in 2020. Her second, third and fourth books are in progress, sometimes all at once. Emma is a respected media commentator on astrophysical matters but is also vocal about gender equality issues in the sciences. She has been the recipient of multiple commendations and prizes, including the Royal Society Athena Medal.

She has appeared on University Challenge (and lost badly), BBC Sky at Night, BBC News at Six, Radio 4 Today Programme and has written for The Guardian and the i paper, amongst other publications.

Note from Emma: I do the vast majority of my outreach work with schools for free and in my own time, and authors receive far fewer book royalties than you might expect. Please be aware that to subsidise the childcare and household costs, I do request a fee of £100 per hour from societies and book festivals, in addition to travel expenses.

Affiliations