Profile

Ilana Klamer

Why did you do Physics?

My Year 12 physics teacher would go out of his way to inspire us with small anecdotes and stories about all these weird and wonderful theories. He told us we would learn about them in detail later on at uni. I stayed with it because there really is a lot of interesting stuff to learn.

Why the University of Sydney?

I began my degree elsewhere but transferred to Sydney Uni because of their reputation for astronomy which was my primary interest. In terms of the physics, there is a broad range of material to study which makes the course interesting for the individual. The atmosphere at Sydney Uni is great — you can always find a nice big patch of green grass to have lunch on with a bunch of friends.

What are you studying?

I have just started a PhD in astrophysics. My research project is to learn more about the first stars and galaxies to form in the very distant universe.

What else do you like doing?

Running, travelling to new places, cooking and reading the newspapers on Saturday morning at the beach.

What is the weirdest physics you have done?

Learning that when you look up at the sky at night and see all the stars, and some galaxies, you are looking through a timeline into the past. If you use a telescope to look up at the same patch of sky, you can see back through billions of years — right to the beginning of the universe.

What are you doing in physics?

I am using our understanding of the properties of electromagnetic radiation (which is basically light at different wavelengths) to study the environment of galaxies which existed billions of years ago and billions of light years away.

What are you combining with physics?

A little chemistry, a little maths and a little imagination!

What is the best thing about physics?

Physics is a very broad area of science and it has very useful applications for the real world. For example, most new technology these days is based on semi-conductors and optical fibres. As a physicist, you learn about the fundamentals of how such technologies work and what their limitations are. It is amazing to learn how most things in life can be described extremely well by only a handful of the laws of physics.

Ilana completed her PhD in astrophysics in 2006, and moved to a postdoctoral research position at the Australia Telescope National Facility, a part of CSIRO.