Ben Fernando

Academic Profile

EDUCATION:

PhD student, St Edmund Hall College Oxford (2016-2020)
MSci Physics, Imperial College London (2012-16, First Class Honours)
Planetary Exploration Summer School, Swedish Institute of Space Physics (2016, Pass with distinction)

AWARDS:

  • AGU Outstanding Student Presentation Award (2020)
  • ARCHER (UK National Supercomputer) Data Visualisation Competition - Winner (2020)
  • Best Abstract, Oxford Computer Science Conference (2019)
  • Principal’s Scholar, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford (2019)
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Oxford University Division of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Equality Awards (2019)
  • Simonian Award for Leadership, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford (2019)
  • Royal College of Science Union Science Challenge - Winner, 2016
  • Airbus Space & Defence Presentation Competition - Second Place, 2016
  • Tectonics Study Group Conference - Honourable mention (best talk) 2016
  • CREST Gold Award - 2012
  • Harvard University Book Prize - 2012
  • BBC Radio 4 So you want to be a Scientist? Competition - Finalist, 2010

 

Outreach:

  • Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, 2016: comparing seeds flown in space onboard the ISS to terrestrial seeds. Supported by the RHS, ESA, IOP and UKSA.
  • Imperial Festival, 2015: exhibiting the Imperial College CubeSatellite project.
  • Astronomy Photographer of the Year, 2009: honourable mention, including exhibition at the Royal Observatory and publication by the BBC.
  • Sharman 25 Celebration, Science Museum (2016)
  • Summer Science Exhibition, Royal Society: lead on Imperial Space Seeds (2016)
  • Today’s Makers - London, Science City Gallery, Science Museum: consultant (2018-)

     

Current Research

I work on adapting methods from terrestrial seismology to understand the oscillations of stars, including our Sun. The aim is to better understand the way in which stars behave and evolve.

Publications

  • Sowing Seeds from Space, Fernando, B.; Wade, J.; Tazi, K.: Astronomy and Geophysics,
    2016 57 (5): 5.11, doi:10.1093/astrogeo/atw176
  • Planning our First Interstellar Journey, Fernando, B; Astronomy and Geophysics, 2016 58 (1): 1.28-1.30, doi.org/10.1093/astrogeo/atx024