Volunteers

Richard at the museum, aboard the Endeavour replica. Image Mona Hussain/ANMM

Star struck

Meet museum volunteer Professor Richard de Grijs

The museum could not function without its volunteers, who work both with the public and behind the scenes in all manner of essential roles. This issue we profile volunteer Richard de Grijs, a professor of astronomy.

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff.

Carl Sagan, American astronomer

ASTRONOMER PROFESSOR RICHARD DE GRIJS was born in Amsterdam and grew up in the mostly rural province of Friesland. A bright student, at primary school he especially loved studying geography. He once missed a lesson about the moon, due to illness, which prompted him to start reading about space, astronomy and spaceflight. His school had a tradition that allowed students to get up in front of the class each morning and share something. Richard thinks he must have bored his teacher and classmates for months on end, as he always had new things to relate about space. Unsurprisingly, Richard declared that he wanted to become an astronaut when he grew up, but his parents suggested that he should perhaps focus on something more achievable. So, aged ten, he decided to be an astronomer. After high school, he went to the University of Groningen and studied physics and astronomy. Richard stayed at Groningen for a PhD in astrophysics, which he completed in 1997. As is usual in science, he took on a short-term appointment as a postdoctoral researcher, moving to the USA to work for three years with a senior professor at the University of Virginia. To meet people and make friends, he joined a weekly conversation group. There he met a bright young Chinese graduate student in biology, Jie Na. She and Richard ‘clicked’ almost immediately. Jie Na is also an academic, and presently works as a stem cell biologist at Tsinghua University in Beijing. She and Richard have now been married for 20 years, but their marriage has occasionally been a long-distance one due to their respective careers. Richard’s next appointment was as a research fellow at the University of Cambridge (UK), where he spent three years. He then accepted a lectureship at the University of Sheffield.

After Richard had spent seven years at Sheffield, both he and Jie Na were offered senior positions at good universities in Beijing, China. He was made a full professor at Peking University’s Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Richard thrived as a scientist and he enjoyed his time there tremendously. However, he also realised that he did not want to stay in China until (and beyond) his retirement; the language barrier was simply too significant. So, when an opportunity came to join Macquarie University in Sydney as Associate Dean (Global Engagement) of its Faculty of Science and Engineering, he took it, arriving in Australia in March 2018. (Jie Na plans to eventually join him.)

01 Richard at the Macquarie University Astronomical Observatory, 2018. 02 Richard at the 21CMA radio telescope in Xinjiang, China, 2008. Images courtesy Richard de Grijs

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One of Richard’s tasks as a museum volunteer is very specific: each weekend, he winds our replica of John Harrison’s marine chronometer H1

As he was initially here alone, Richard explored options to do something interesting. After he came across the Maritime Museum, he then contacted the volunteers’ office, and is now a regular Sunday volunteer and of the museum’s speakers. One of his tasks as a volunteer is very specific: each weekend, he winds the museum’s replica of John Harrison’s marine chronometer H1. Richard also doubles as crew on the Duyfken replica and on Murder Mystery at Sea events. Richard loves volunteering at the museum because of the interaction with people and the social life with the team. He also enjoys the chance to do something useful in the community and to spend time following his passion in the beautiful environment of Darling Harbour. The following are Richard’s replies to a few questions we asked him.

What were your impressions of Australia when you arrived? I love it here, particular the fact that we are so multi-cultural and that doesn’t lead to major problems (of course, there are still issues, but this is a country where multiple cultures can live together without too many problems). Plus, I like the climate and the beautiful nature here!

What do you miss the most in your country of origin? Not much anymore these days ... perhaps mostly my family (at the moment that’s pretty much my mother) and a number of close friends whom I haven’t seen for a long time ... You can now get any material things you want from anywhere on the globe, so I can get my Dutch food cravings sorted easily.

How was it like to teach at Cambridge University? Cambridge was amazing to work at. I worked with a top professor and his team, and with brilliant colleagues. Spending time there is pretty much a ticket to a good next job.

How do you find your current university? How many students do you teach? Macquarie University is a good university and the colleagues here are amazing; we have a great team and everyone is very supportive. I teach a main undergraduate class each semester (40–50 students in first year, 15 or so in third year), plus I am responsible for supervising project work of undergraduate and Masters students, half a dozen to a dozen students in each unit.

What is your favourite gem of knowledge to share about your astrophysics background? Space is empty, so when the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy eventually collide in 4.5 billion years from now, you wouldn’t notice much or even anything on Earth (assuming we’re still around then!). Think about it as follows: suppose we have two galaxies, each the size of Australia but in 3D. Each of those galaxies would have three to five wasps freely flying around in it. Now think of the chance that a wasp from one of those galaxies meets one from the other galaxy – that gives you an idea of the emptiness of space. Some of Richard’s publications are listed below. He has also published a number of edited conference volumes (in astrophysics), he is contracted to SpringerNature to write a biography of William Dawes (the astronomer on the First Fleet) and he is preparing a book on HMAS Labuan.

For those who would like to meet Richard in person, please visit us at the museum on Sundays, when he is there like ‘clockwork’ – rewinding John Harrison’s clock, on display in our permanent exhibition Under Southern Skies.

Publications by Richard de Grijs An Introduction to Distance Measurement in Astronomy (Wiley, 2011, ISBN 978-0-4705-1180-0) Time and Time Again: Determination of longitude at sea in the 17th century (IOP Publishing, 2017, ISBN (print) 978-0-7503-1195-3 (online) 978-0-7503-1194-6) Articles on the history of maritime navigation: astro-expat.info/history.html Articles about various aspects of astrophysics: astro-expat.info/papersrev.pdf

This article was written by Mona Hussain and Richard de Grijs. The replica of John Harrison’s marine chronometer H1, on display in the museum, was made by Norman Banham (see Signals 134).