Spring 2023 Staffing news

With so much going on, our team has grown. In this edition, we warmly welcome three new staff members to our observatory team.

Luke Mannion and David Reid, are our new observatory coordination support officers based in Geraldton and Perth respectively. Both Luke and David will be taking care of all the things that go into keeping the observatory running smoothly, such as maintenance activities and coordinating access.

Luke worked as a landscape architect prior to joining us, in Queensland, ACT, and WA in either technical, landscaping or design roles. Geraldton is a great place for his hobbies of running, cycling, swimming, as well as fixing up his home and garden.

David has lived in Perth for 13 years. He originally hails from Canada and has spent nearly a year in Antarctica while working for the Australian Antarctic Division. Otherwise, David has been working in construction site management but now will support the team with a whole lot of observatory activities. He lives a little outside of Perth with his family, with space for his dog and horses.

We’d also like to welcome Alice Cargeeg as the Design Infrastructure Manager. Alice is responsible for the coordination and consultation associated with the planning, design and delivery of various buildings required to support the SKA project, including new science and engineering buildings in Perth and Geraldton and future site accommodation. Alice is a civil engineer and has spent the past 15+ years working in the transport sector throughout WA. Alice has told us she loves being outdoors, to which we say, great – there’s a lot of it around here. And it’s beautiful.

We recently welcomed back Kirsten Fredericksen, who has been away on parental leave looking after the adorable Tilly (see newsletter Autumn 2023). She most certainly has been missed, and we are thrilled to have her back with the team.