The OAD Team
There are currently three full time staff members on the OAD team:
Kevin Govender: Director
Kevin began work at the OAD on 1st March 2011 as its first Director. He has extensive experience using astronomy for development during his previous position as the Manager of the SALT Collateral Benefits Programme at the South African Astronomical Observatory. He also chaired the Developing Astronomy Globally Cornerstone Project of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) and was involved in the development of the IAU Strategic Plan.
Email: kg@astro4dev.org
Telephone: +27 (0) 21 460 9350
Mobile: +27 (0) 82 487 8466
Skype: kevindran | Twitter: @govender
Jean-Christophe Mauduit: Project Officer
JC was appointed as OAD Project Officer on February 11th, 2013. He holds a PhD in astrophysics from the Paris Observatory and participated in large ESA and NASA satellite missions as a postdoctoral researcher at the Côte d’Azur observatory and the California Institute of Technology. He has been involved in many international education and outreach programs (Hands on Universe, Universe Awareness, Caltech & Spitzer outreach) as well as various science development projects around the world.
Email: jcm@astro4dev.org
Telephone: +27 (0) 21 460 9309
Skype: jcmtel | Twitter: @jcmauduit
Nuhaah Solomon: Admnistration
Nuhaah joined the OAD on 6th June 2011 to coordinate the administrative aspects of the office. She brings vast experience of working in administrative and events management roles in some of the most fast paced environments in the corporate world. Her previous roles include project management, stakeholder relations and coordinating international meetings and events.
Email: ns@astro4dev.org
Telephone: +27 (0) 21 460 6297
Current Interns
The OAD Internship Program aims to provide an opportunity for inspired motivated individuals to contribute meaningfully to the OAD objectives, providing them with unique international experience in using astronomy for development. Some of our interns who are currently working for the OAD on a part time basis are:
Laure Catala
Laure is a second year PhD student from France, working on optical instrumentation for the Southern African Large Telescope, affiliated to both the University of Cape Town and the South African Astronomical Observatory. She is currently leading two projects at the OAD, the first one evaluating the impact of different outreach and education programs in collaboration with social scientists and education researchers and the second one aimed at developing an undergraduate astronomy course for historically black universities. Email: lcc@saao.ac.za
Eli Kasai
Eli joined the OAD in February 2013. He is a first year PhD student in Astrophysics at University of Cape Town, affiliated to the South African Astronomical Observatory and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences. From Namibia, Eli has a strong passion helping develop the study of Astronomy in places that lack knowledge in this field, especially in the Square Kilometer Array Africa partner countries where Human Capacity Development programs are a high priority. He is currently working on developing resources based on the Khan Academy project. Email: kunwijik@gmail.com
Rajin Ramphul
Rajin is a Mauritian student doing his PhD in Astrophysics at the South African Astronomical Observatory and with the University of Cape Town. He is working in the field of Galaxy formation and evolution. Rajin is enthusiastic about anything that deals with teaching science as well as for topics related to computing. He has just started working on a project which aims at improving the skills of astronomical programming for historically black South African universities and undergraduate students in Africa.
Email: rajin250@yahoo.com
Past Interns
We are grateful for the contributions of previous interns who have come through the OAD. We hope they will continue to spread the impact of astronomy on development:
Maya Barlev
Maya has been collaborating with the OAD since early January 2013, specializing in astronomy education resource development. Currently, Maya is traveling the world engaging with how children learn about the Universe both in academic and non-academic contexts, as supported by the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. Originally from the U.S., Maya hopes to apply what she learns at the OAD to solving problems of education inequality in her own country and worldwide. She holds a BSc in astrophysics from Haverford College, where she began her work in astronomy education and outreach. Email: maya.barlev@gmail.com
Read Maya Barlev’s open letter to the OAD, relating her experience at the office. Follow her around the world: http://littlemayabigworld.blogspot.com/
Physical Address:
The OAD is hosted by the South African Astronomical Observatory. Please direct all postal inquiries to:
IAU Office of Astronomy for Development,
South African Astronomical Observatory,
P.O. Box 9, Observatory, 7935,
South Africa
