Astrobiologist of the Month
November
🌑
Every month we feature two astrobiologists from around the world. Our aim is for everyone to get to know each other, connect and network. If you would like to be featured, let us know here.
✉️ charley [dot] lineweaver [at] anu [dot] edu [dot] au
🌏 Canberra, Australia
CHARLEY LINEWEAVER
“I come from outer space, just like all metazoans and just like the planet Earth. I analyze data and try to make sense of who we are and how we got here. To see how far we've gotten, have a look at: arewealone.us. Also, I ask a lot of questions. Sometimes they are appreciated."
Position
Honorary Associate Professor, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University
Career Pathway
BA in history from the State University of New York at Binghamton,
MA in English from Brown University,
BS is physics from Ludwig Maximillian's University in Munich,
PhD in physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1994
Research Topics
Exoplanetology (the statistical analysis of exoplanets and their habitability), Cosmobiology (using our new knowledge of cosmology to constrain life in the Universe) and Cancer (a new atavistic model)
Why did you decide to become an Astrobiologist?
I don't think I decided to become an astrobiologist. I became one without knowing it. Origins and history were two big homes for my curiosity. My Dad was a high school biology teacher and my PhD was in cosmology (we discovered the flucutuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation). So maybe I'm more of a cosmobiologist than an astrobiologist.
If your lab/research group had a nickname, what would it be?
Focusing on the Big Picture
Are you accepting students?
No