2 minute read
The SKAO takes centre stage at ICRI 2024
from Contact 17
BY LIZ WILLIAMS (SKAO)
In December 2024 more than 400 people from 50 countries travelled to Brisbane, Australia, for the biannual International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI).
The conference brings together experts from diverse scientific disciplines to explore trends, challenges, and issues of significance for global research infrastructures.
This year’s themes included sustainability in the face of climate change, and relationships with and engagement of Indigenous Peoples in the construction and operation of research infrastructures, both topics of major relevance to the SKAO.
The Observatory was prominent throughout the event, starting with a live cross to the SKA-Low telescope site at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. Undoubtedly a highlight of the ICRI welcome ceremony, the live cross featured SKA-Low Head of Science Commissioning Dr George Heald and SKA-Low Field Technicians Karen Faulkner and Emily Goddard, who shared the latest progress on the telescope and activities direct from the site.
Other highlights included SKAO representatives presenting at a meeting of the G7’s science officials, and Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal Corporation Aboriginal Liaison Officer Jennylyn Hamlett taking part in a panel discussion on developing research infrastructure partnerships with local and Indigenous communities, in which she spoke about her involvement with the SKA project.
A small number of participants were able to travel to the SKA-Low site prior to the conference, and others got the next best thing: a virtual site visit with a short version of the Beyond the Milky Way virtual reality movie giving them a taste of being on site.
ICRI 2024 was a joint effort between Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, the European Commission and the Australian Department of Education.
