Carolina Ödman-Govender () (3 July 1974 – 15 November 2022) was a Swiss physicist and academic who was Professor of Astrophysics at South Africa's

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...

. She was awarded the 2018

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

Special Executive Committee Award for Astronomy Outreach, Development and Education.

Early life and education

Ödman grew up in Switzerland; her parents were Swedish. Inspired by her high school physics teacher, she pursued a career in the sciences. She studied physics at the

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (, EPFL) is a public university, public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland". Like its sister institution E ...

and graduated in 2000. She earned her PhD at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where she was a member of Trinity Hall. She has also consulted for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, working on the impact of science and technology in society. She became interested in the philosophical aspects of science; for example, why people are interested in astronomy.

Research and career

From 2004 to 2005 she was a Marie Curie Skłodowska postdoctoral scholar at Universita degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza". She worked in cosmology on several subjects as

dark energy In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. Its primary effect is to drive the accelerating expansion of the universe. It also slows the rate of structure format ...

, analysis of

cosmic microwave background The cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR), or relic radiation, is microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe. With a standard optical telescope, the background space between stars and galaxies is almost completely dar ...

data, and

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

. In 2005 Ödman joined

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

as an international project manager, where she worked with George Miley. Amongst other achievements, this involved setting up the Astronomy for Africa taskforce and leading Universe Awareness (UNAWE). Universe Awareness is an outreach programme that inspires children about astronomy, reaching over 400,000 children in over 60 countries. She joined the

Square Kilometre Array The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental organisation, intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square ...

project at the

South African Astronomical Observatory The South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) is the national centre for optical and infrared astronomy in South Africa. It was established in 1972. The observatory is run by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. The facility's f ...

in 2010. Ödman was made Director of Academic Development at the

African Institute for Mathematical Sciences The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is a tertiary education and research institute in Muizenberg, South Africa, established in September 2003, and an associated network of linked institutes in Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Rwa ...

in 2011. In 2012 she received the ''Science'' Prize for Online Resources in Education (SPORE) award for her work on Universe Awareness. She was part of the team that created

GalileoMobile GalileoMobile is a non-profit science education organization that brings astronomy closer to young people worldwide. The GalileoMobile emphasis is on regions with little or no access to knowledge about astronomy. Created in late 2008 on an insp ...

project. In 2018 Ödman was made associate director for development and outreach of the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA) and an associate professor at the

. In 2021, she was awarded the 2020/2021 National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)'s Communication Award, "for reshaping how science is communicated to the general public and in particular research into building a scientific vocabulary in African languages".

Personal life and death

Ödman was married to Kevin Govender in South Africa. They had two sons. In early 2018, Ödman was diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. She died in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

on 15 November 2022, at the age of 48.

Publications

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odman-Govender, Carolina 1970s births 2022 deaths Date of birth unknown Deaths from pancreatic cancer in South Africa École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne alumni Leiden University alumni Science communication award winners Swiss science communicators Swiss people of Swedish descent Swiss women academics Swiss women physicists 21st-century Swiss women scientists 21st-century Swiss physicists Academic staff of the University of the Western Cape

Early life and education

Research and career

Personal life and death

Publications

See also

References