Elizabeth J. Tasker

Elizabeth J. Tasker (born 12 July 1980) is a British astrophysicist and science writer.

This article is about the British astrophysicist. For the Australian ecologist, see Elizabeth Tasker.

Elizabeth Tasker
Born
Elizabeth J. Tasker

(1980-07-12) 12 July 1980
Alma materDurham University (MSci)
Merton College, Oxford (DPhil)
Scientific career
FieldsComputational Astrophysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Florida
Columbia University
McMaster University
Hokkaido University
JAXA
ThesisNumerical simulations of the formation and evolution of galaxies (2005)
Doctoral advisorGreg Bryan
Websiteelizabethtasker.com

Tasker is currently an Associate Professor at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and is highly active in science communication. Her first book, The Planet Factory, was published by Bloomsbury in 2017.

Early life and education

Tasker graduated from Durham University in 2002 with a MSci in theoretical physics.[1] As an undergraduate, she won the 1999 The Daily Telegraph Young Science Writers Award.[2]

Tasker moved to the University of Oxford for doctoral studies, where her supervisor was Greg Bryan.[3] Her thesis, Numerical simulations of the formation and evolution of galaxies, was completed in 2005.[3]

Career and research

Tasker joined Columbia University as a postdoctoral research assistant, where she worked on simulations of star formation that incorporated feedback from supernovae.[4] She has investigated whether stellar feedback results in the death of Giant Molecular Clouds.[5] She spent three years at the University of Florida as the Theoretical Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, before moving to McMaster University as a CITA National Fellow in 2009.[6]

Tasker's research investigates how stars form in disc galaxies using computer simulations.[7] She looks at how galaxy structure impacts the formation of stars, and how star formation drives galaxy evolution.[7] She has argued for the need to evaluate the language around exoplanet ranking metrics.[8] She joined Hokkaido University as an international tenure-track academic in 2011.[7] She won the Hokkaido University President’s Award for Education in 2014, 2015 and 2016. She was appointed to JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, as an associate professor in 2016,[2][9] working on hydrodynamical models of star and planet formation.[9][10]

Science communication

Tasker is also a popular science writer. She has written for Scientific American, How It Works, Space.com, The Conversation and Astronomy.[11][12][13][14] She has presented popular science lectures at the Communicating Astronomy with the Public conference, the Royal Institution and American Museum of Natural History.[15][16][17] In 2015, Tasker presented How Did We Begin at TEDx Hokkaido University.[18] She has spoken about the work of the Earth-Life Science Institute to the general public.[19]

The Planet Factory

In 2017 Bloomsbury Publishing released Tasker's first book, The Planet Factory.[20] The book was described as "brilliantly written" by Physics World[21] and "splendidly readable and authoritative" by Caleb Scharf.[20]

Planetary Diversity

Tasker co-authored and edited Planetary Diversity: Rocky planet processes and their observational signatures, an ebook aimed at space science researchers. It was published as a joint venture by the American Astronomical Society and the Institute of Physics in 2020.

References
  1. "Curriculum Vitae". Elizabeth Tasker. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  2. "Elizabeth Tasker Bloomsbury profile". bloomsbury.com. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  3. Tasker, Elizabeth (2005). Numerical simulations of the formation and evolution of galaxies. researchgate.net (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.424719. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  4. Tasker, Elizabeth J.; Bryan, Greg L. (2006). "Simulating Star Formation and Feedback in Galactic Disk Models". The Astrophysical Journal. 641 (2): 878–890. arXiv:astro-ph/0512027. Bibcode:2006ApJ...641..878T. doi:10.1086/500567. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 14350784.
  5. Tasker, Elizabeth J.; Wadsley, James; Pudritz, Ralph (2015). "Star Formation in Disk Galaxies. III. Does stellar feedback result in cloud death?". The Astrophysical Journal. 801 (1): 33. arXiv:1501.00277. Bibcode:2015ApJ...801...33T. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/801/1/33. ISSN 1538-4357. S2CID 54501498.
  6. "Elizabeth Tasker: The Planet Factory | Ada's Technical Books". seattletechnicalbooks.com. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  7. "Elizabeth TASKER » Office of Promotion and Standardization of the Tenure-Track System | 北海道大学". tenure-track.cris.hokudai.ac.jp. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  8. Tasker, Elizabeth; Tan, Joshua; Heng, Kevin; Kane, Stephen; Spiegel, David; the ELSI Origins Network Planetary Diversity Workshop; Brasser, Ramon; Casey, Andrew; Desch, Steven (2017). "The language of exoplanet ranking metrics needs to change". Nature Astronomy. 1 (2): 0042. arXiv:1708.01363. Bibcode:2017NatAs...1E..42T. doi:10.1038/s41550-017-0042. ISSN 2397-3366. S2CID 118952886.
  9. 宇宙科学専攻, 総合研究大学院大学 物理科学研究科. "Faculty Staff | Solar system science". Department of Space and Astronautical Science, SOKENDAI. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  10. "タスカー エリザベス | 研究教育職員". 宇宙科学研究所 (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  11. April 1, Elizabeth Tasker |; ET, 2016 08:00am (April 2016). "If Hitomi is Lost, What Science is Lost With It? (Op-Ed)". Space.com. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  12. Tasker, Elizabeth. "Let's Lose the Term "Habitable Zone" for Exoplanets". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  13. Gorman, Christine. "Surprising New Finds from Ancient Egyptian Star Charts [Slide Show]". Scientific American. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  14. "Elizabeth Tasker". The Conversation. 3 September 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  15. "Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2018" (PDF). CAP. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  16. O'brien, Brendan (26 March 2017). "Astrophiz 30: Dr Elizabeth Tasker debunks 'Earth2.0' in Trappist-1 system + Dr Ian Musgrave 'What's Up Doc?'". Astrophiz. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  17. "A planet not our own". rigb.org. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  18. TEDx Talks, How Did We Begin? | Elizabeth Tasker | TEDxHokkaidoU, retrieved 19 January 2019
  19. NASA Astrobiology, Space Dust to Sentience: Dr. Elizabeth Tasker, retrieved 19 January 2019
  20. "The Planet Factory: Exoplanets and the Search for a Second Earth". Bloomsbury. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  21. "How to build a planet". Physics World. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
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