Kristine Spekkens
{{short description|Canadian astronomer}}
{{Infobox scientist
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| birth_place = Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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| fields = Extragalactic Astrophysics
| workplaces = Queen's University
| thesis_title = Testing Cold Dark Matter Paradigm Predictions with Disk Galaxy Dynamics
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| doctoral_advisor = Ricardo Giovanelli
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| website = {{url|queensu.ca/physics/people-search/kristine-spekkens}}
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Kristine Spekkens is a Canadian astronomer. She is a professor at Queen's University,{{Cite web|url=https://www.queensu.ca/physics/kristine-spekkens|title=Kristine Spekkens {{!}} Department of Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy|website=www.queensu.ca|access-date=2019-10-24}} and the Canadian Science Director for the Square Kilometre Array.{{Cite web|url=https://casca.ca/?p=12096|title=Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Update - CASCA|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-24}}
Early life
Spekkens was born in Hamilton, Ontario and grew up in Burlington, Ontario, spending most of her summers in a small cottage community in Chelsea, Québec.{{Cite web|url=http://hosting.astro.cornell.edu/~spekkens/history.html|title=About me|website=hosting.astro.cornell.edu|access-date=2019-12-01}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/304992016/abstract|title=Biographical Sketch|access-date=2021-11-01}} She attended École primaire St-Phillippe and École secondaire Georges-P.-Vanier, and received her B.Sc. in Physics from Queen's University in 2000 and her PhD in astronomy from Cornell University in 2005.{{Cite web|url=http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/component/authorlist/author/7-kspekkens|title=Author Kristine Spekkens|website=curious.astro.cornell.edu|access-date=2019-10-24}}
An athlete growing up, Spekkens represented Canada in netball at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and at the 1999 World Championships.{{Cite web|url=http://kl98.thecgf.com/athletes/netball.htm|title=Netball|website=kl98.thecgf.com|access-date=2019-12-01}}{{Cite news|url= https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=14425|title=Netball: Tall order for Canadians|date=2000-06-30|access-date=2019-12-01|language=en-NZ|issn=1170-0777}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.todor66.com/others/Netball/World/Women_1999.html|title=Women Netball X World Championship 1999 Christchurch (NZL) 21.09-02.10 - Winner New Zealand|website=www.todor66.com|access-date=2019-12-01}} She was also active in university athletics as a member of the Queen's Golden Gaels women's volleyball team from 1996 to 2000 and the Cornell University Wild Roses women's ultimate club from 2000-2005.{{Cite news|url= https://gogaelsgo.com/sports/2008/9/23/Awards_Merit.aspx?id=53|title=Major Awards - Award of Merit|date=2000-06-30|access-date=2021-11-01|language=en}}
Career
After finishing her PhD work, Spekkens received a prize Jansky Postdoctoral Fellowship at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Rutgers University.{{Cite web|url=https://science.nrao.edu/opportunities/postdoctoral-programs/past-present-postdocs|title=Past & Present Postdocs — Science Website|website=science.nrao.edu|access-date=2019-10-24}} In 2008, she became an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Space Science at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), where she was promoted to the rank of professor in 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rmc-cmr.ca/en/physics-space-science/kristine-spekkens|title=Kristine Spekkens|last=webmaster.rmc|date=2015-03-23|website=www.rmc-cmr.ca|language=en|access-date=2019-10-24}} In 2024, Spekkens became a professor in the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy at Queen's University, where she had been cross-appointed from RMC for over a decade.
Spekkens' research focuses on the structure and evolution of nearby galaxies. She leads a research group focussed on understanding the structure and evolution of nearby galaxies through deep multi-wavelength observations, and is particularly interested in using their atomic gas hydrogen line morphologies and kinematics as a cosmological probe. Spekkens is an active member of next-generation atomic gas survey teams on SKA precursor facilities, most notably the WALLABY survey on the ASKAP telescope within which she chairs a software development technical working group{{Cite web|url=https://wallaby-survey.org/working-groups/|title=Team Organisation|website=WALLABY Survey|language=en|access-date=2021-11-13}} and sits on its executive committee.{{Cite web|url=https://wallaby-survey.org/team/|title=Team|website=WALLABY Survey|language=en|access-date=2021-11-13}}
Spekkens is the Canadian Science Director of the SKA,{{Cite web|url=http://skatelescope.ca/canada-and-the-ska/committees-working-groups/|title=Committees and Working Groups|website=SKA Canada|language=en|access-date=2020-05-22}} and in that role was a member of the Board of Directors of the SKA Organisation from 2019-2021,{{Cite web|url=https://www.skatelescope.org/board-directors/|title=Board of Directors|website=Public Website|language=en|access-date=2019-10-24}} and is currently the Canadian member and Vice-Chair of the SKA Science and Engineering Advisory Committee.{{Cite web|url=https://www.skatelescope.org/committees/seac/|title=Science and Engineering Advisory Committee|website=Public Website|language=en|access-date=2021-11-13}} She has also held different positions within the Canadian astronomical community, including chairship of the Canadian Time Allocation Committee from 2014-2015, membership on the CASCA Board of Directors from 2016-2019,{{Cite web|url=https://casca.ca/?page_id=681|title=Past Officers and Directors of the Society|website=Canadian Astronomical Society|language=en|access-date=2021-11-13}} and chairship of the CASCA Equity and Inclusivity Committee (EIC).{{Cite web|url=https://casca.ca/?page_id=6648|title=Equity and Inclusivity Committee|website=Canadian Astronomical Society|language=en|access-date=2022-01-22}} Spekkens is currently a member of the CASCA Nominating Committee.{{Cite web|url=https://casca.ca/?page_id=59|title=Committees|website=Canadian Astronomical Society|language=en|access-date=2022-01-22}}
References
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Category:21st-century Canadian astronomers
Category:Canadian women astronomers
Category:Cornell University alumni