Black holes are some of the most bizarre objects in the universe. They can have as much mass as a billion stars combined. How did they form and how did they get so big?
Ilana Feain, Photo credit: SDP Photo, Tim Morison
“What are they doing to the galaxies in which they live?” asks Dr Ilana Feain of the CSIRO’s Australia Telescope National Facility.
This is one of the biggest questions facing astronomers in the 21st Century. The 29-year-old astronomer will use her L’ORÉAL Australia For Women In Science Fellowship in her quest for an answer to this question.
Sarah Pryke has always had an eye for the shape, colour and movement of animals. After growing up surrounded by wildlife in a remote rural area of South Africa, she was employed as an illustrator by the local museum while studying for her science degree at the University of Natal.
Sarah Pryke, Photo credit: SDP Photo, Tim Morison
Now, as a post-doctoral fellow of the at Macquarie University in Sydney, she is working in the Kimberleys investigating the impact of colour on the behaviour of the Gouldian finch, a small, dazzling bird of Australia’s tropical savannah.
When Catriona Bradshaw volunteered as a visiting medical officer in sexual health and HIV medicine at an African hospital, it was a turning point that confirmed her career choice – in sexual health.
Catriona Bradshaw, Photo credit: SDP Photo, Sam D’Agostino
Now, with the help of her L’ORÉAL Australia For Women In Science Fellowship, Bradshaw plans to clear up confusion about a common genital infection of women – bacterial vaginosis.
She suspects that bacterial vaginosis may be sexually transmitted. By studying the spread of the disease in young women she plans to determine if this is the case.
She hopes that her work will lead to improved treatment regimes – benefiting women in the West and in developing countries.
