Rate My Professor Karen Lee Waddell

Dr. Karen Lee-Waddell is an Adjunct Lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Curtin University, associated with the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy. She currently serves as the inaugural Director of the Australian SKA Regional Centre (AusSRC), an equal partnership between CSIRO, Curtin University, the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, and the University of Western Australia. In this role, she leads efforts to develop computing and data-intensive research capabilities for astronomers using current radio telescopes like ASKAP and future facilities such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Previously, she joined the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) at the University of Western Australia in 2017 as a research astronomer and has been the Project Scientist for the WALLABY survey, a major neutral hydrogen (HI) imaging project with ASKAP. She also contributes to the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transient (CRAFT) survey. Before transitioning to academia, Dr. Lee-Waddell served 13 years as a Logistics Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy, including reservist duties in Canada and Australia, earning the Canadian Forces Decoration medal in 2019 for long service and good conduct. Her postdoctoral fellowship was at the University of Sydney in 2015.

Dr. Lee-Waddell holds a PhD in Astrophysics and Astronomy from Queen's University (2011-2015), an MSc in Space Sciences from the Royal Military College of Canada (2009-2011), a BA (Hons) in Classics from McMaster University (2007-2009), and a BSc (Hons) in Physics from McMaster University (2003-2007). Her research focuses on extragalactic astronomy, particularly galaxy interactions and the physical processes governing galaxy systems, neutral hydrogen in galaxies, and fast radio bursts. Key publications include 'The host galaxy of FRB 20171020A revisited' (2023, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia), 'FEASTS: the fate of gas and star formation in interacting galaxies' (2025, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society), 'Low-frequency turnover star-forming galaxies I: Radio continuum observations and global properties' (2025, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia), 'The distribution of atomic hydrogen in the host galaxies of FRBs' (2025), and 'WALLABY pilot survey: the Tully-Fisher relation in the NGC 4636 group' (2024, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society). She received the 2023 Western Australian Young Tall Poppy Science Award for outstanding early-career research and leadership in radio astronomy. Dr. Lee-Waddell is passionate about science outreach, delivering public lectures and participating in science festivals.