Biography

Christine Charles is Professor and Head of the Space Plasma, Power and Propulsion laboratory at the Australian National University (ANU). She works on experimental expanding plasmas applied to space science and space propulsion. She is the inventor of the Helicon Double Layer Thruster, a new electrode-less magneto-plasma thruster for space use. Subsequent to the development of the WOMBAT XL space simulation chamber at ANU, she has been contributing to an increasing number of CubeSat nano-satellite projects and space missions. She was recently awarded the 2015 Women in Industry Excellence in Engineering. She has published over 200 articles in various international peer-reviewed journals and her scientific output has been recognised by her Fellowship of the American Physical Society in 2013 and her Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science in 2015. She actively popularises her science on ABC Catalyst, Discovery Channel, radio and public lectures and she was a TEDx Canberra speaker in 2014. She plays keyboard jazz with her group, Harmonic Propulsion, that performs around Canberra.

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