4 minute read
SKAO Council makes first trip to Australia
from Contact 14
BY LIZ WILLIAMS (SKAO)
In October, the SKAO Council was welcomed to Perth, Western Australia, for the first meeting in the host country since the SKA Observatory (SKAO) was established.
More than 50 delegates from SKAO member and partner countries, as well as SKAO senior leadership staff, attended the Council meeting, which included a visit to the SKA-Low telescope site.
Sharing Wajarri culture and heritage
The trip was an opportunity to highlight the importance of the partnership with the Wajarri Yamaji, Traditional Owners and native title holders of Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, where SKA-Low is being built.
Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal Corporation (WYAC) representatives Jennylyn Hamlett, Russell Simpson and Gailrose Simpson delivered a special presentation to the SKAO’s top body about the perspective of the Wajarri Yamaji on the project.
Speaking to the Council, Jennylyn emphasised the importance of preserving Wajarri culture. ”We rely on our culture, it’s a priority to our Wajarri people,” she said.
“When we came to the conclusion that [the Wajarri] would be a partner and walk side by side with SKAO and CSIRO, it was for the betterment of our future generations – to empower our children.”
She also spoke about the cultural heritage management plan that is in place to protect Wajarri heritage as part of the SKALow telescope construction and operations. “It’s our security blanket, it protects what we have out there, because without [our culture] we have nothing,” Jennylyn said.
As part of the visit to site, delegates participated in artistic and language experiences, including a Welcome to Country in Wajarri language with Wendy Merry and English with Anthony Dann. Council also contributed to a collaborative artwork led by Susan Merry and participated in a language activity led by Leonie Boddington that had visitors learning their honorary Wajarri name for the day, such as marlu daanjamanmanha (kangaroo dancing) or gudurdu nyaan-nyaan (heart whispering).
Cultural awareness training
Many delegates also participated in full-day, Wajarri-led cultural awareness training sessions, which provided a thought-provoking and, at times, confronting insight into the experience of Aboriginal people in Australia, both historical and contemporary. The training also showcases the richness of Wajarri culture and heritage, which stretches back tens of thousands of years on the land, as well as language and Indigenous astronomy. The training is mandatory for all people who will visit the observatory for more than five days per year, but is so valuable in providing a richer understanding of the Wajarri relationship that it was strongly recommended to all Council attendees and SKAO executive leadership.
Visiting the SKA-Low site
Delegates were also treated to a one-day site visit the day before Council. For some it was their first time travelling to the Australian outback, providing an invaluable understanding of the remoteness of the site and the environmental conditions, as well as the beauty of Wajarri Country. The guests toured the SKA precursor telescopes ASKAP and MWA, the recently opened SKAO “fly camp”, SKA-Low construction sites including the core and AA0.5 (which will comprise the first six stations of the telescope), and the SKALow prototype antennas AAVS2 and AAVS3.
For those who had been to the site before, the visit was a chance to see the significant progress that has been made since the Indigenous Land Use Agreement was approved and SKAO site license was signed, which preceded events to officially launch on-site construction activities in Australia and South Africa in December 2022.
Supercomputer visit
The SKAO Council visit was rounded out by a visit to the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, where the SKA-Low telescope data processing and storage will be hosted. Pawsey Director Mark Stickells spoke about the centre’s capabilities, including their new supercomputer Setonix which was recently ranked the fourth greenest supercomputer in the world.
