Edward Gomez

Astronomer, Coder, Science Communicator, Storyteller, Dad

hello@zemogle.net

Curriculum Vitae

Current Roles

Education

PhD - Astrophysics Instability in the winds of hot stars: Theory and Simulation 1999-2004, Cardiff University
Master of Astrophysics 1st Class hons 1995-1999, Cardiff University

Current Projects

  • 2017 - present : Programme manager for Global Sky Partners, creating and managing global educational partnerships using robotic telescopes, through Las Cumbres Observatory
  • 2017 - present : Serol's Cosmic Explorers
  • 2024 - present : Programme manager and software developer Photon Ranch (in development) a suite of educational resources, including controlling robotic telescopes in real-time and scheduled, a learning management system, and data analysis tools.

Awards and Nominations

Current Community Projects & Roles

Selected Community Projects & Roles

  • 2011 - 2020 : Chair of the International Astronomical Union Office of Astronomy for Development Task Force for children and schools.
  • 2013 Co-founder of astroEDU, an open access, peer-review platform for reviewing and sharing astronomy education activities, endorsed by International Astronomical Union.
  • 2014 - 2018 : Education and Science Editor for Space Scoop
  • 2014 - 2015 : Chair of National Astronomy Meeting (UK) education and outreach session organising committee
  • 2016 : Local Organising Committee for .Astronomy 8 conference in Oxford.
  • 2016 : Local Organising Committee for National Astronomy Meeting conference in Nottingham
  • 2016 - 2017 : Camp Cosmos director, a summer space camp for 11-14 year olds.

Keynote Conference Talks

  • 2024 Sept - Global Hands on University, "Las Cumbres Observatory: A global network of robotic telescopes for science and education"
  • 2024 July - International Planetarium Society, "Equity and inclusion in astronomy education"

Invited Talks

  • 2021 Oct - IAU Shaw Meeting, "Create better interactive apps"
  • 2017 Feb - Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University - Smithsonian Institute, "Las Cumbres Observatory"
  • 2014 Apr - Italian National Astronomy Meeting, Milan, "astroEDU: open access and peer-review for astronomy education".
  • 2014 Mar - Queen Mary College, London - "Las Cumbres Observatory: a robotic telescope network for education and science".
  • 2013 Oct - Copernicus Centre, Warsaw - "Exoplanets: Exploring new worlds"
  • 2013 Jan - Dunlap Institute, Toronto - "Las Cumbres Observatory: a robotic telescope network for education and science"
  • 2012 May - Leiden Observatory Science Communication seminar - "Creating an open network of robotic telescopes"

Teaching

  • 2014 - 2018 : Supervised undergraduate projects on exoplanet research and using PyGame to create physics outreach games
  • 2017 - 2020 : Co-supervised PhD student in a project to use Machine Learning to analyse galaxy merger observations
  • 2004 - 2008 : Lecturer in Physics Modelling undergraduate course

Mentoring

  • 2024 - present : Mentor to 2 mentees in the 1 Million Mentors scheme
  • 2008 - present : Hosting work experience students (in person and remote)
  • 2015 - 2022 : Supervised undergraduate software interns in python, HTML and Javascript to create astronomy education projects
  • 2017 : Supervised undergratuate graphic design project intern
  • 2015 - 2017 : Supervised undergraduate on astroEDU project

Selected Publications

Selected Public Talks

  • 2024 July - Llandaff Cathedral - "The Science of Interstellar"
  • 2021 Sept - Qatar National Library - "Las Cumbres Observatory"
  • 2020 Oct - Swansea Science Festival - "Only a Matter of time". An interview with comedian, David Baddiel and science of time travel talk.
  • 2020 Feb - Cardiff Science Festival - "Science of Time Travel"
  • 2020 Jan - Royal Astronomical Society, London - "Science of Time Travel"
  • 2017 January - British Science Fiction Association - "Science of Doctor Who: Time Travel and the Master"
  • 2016 December - IoP Science Storytelling - "Jack Photon: a story of light"
  • 2016 December - St Louis Science Centre - "Science of Doctor Who: Time Travel and the Master"
  • 2016 July - Astronomy on Tap, Santa Barbara - "Jack Photon: a story of light"
  • 2016 June - Mensa Cymru - "Science of Doctor Who: Space Travel and Alien Worlds".
  • 2016 June - Devizes Festival - "Science of Doctor Who: Space Travel and Alien Worlds".
  • 2016 April - Swansea Cafe Scientifique - "Science of Doctor Who: Space Travel and Alien Worlds".
  • 2016 February - Bristol Astronomical Society - "Las Cumbres Observatory: a global telescope network"
  • 2016 February - IoP Science Storytelling - "Jack Photon: a story of light"
  • 2015 December - Humanist Society of UK - "Science of Doctor Who: Space Travel and Alien Worlds".
  • 2015 December - Salisbury Cafe Scientifique - "Science of Doctor Who: Space Travel and Alien Worlds".
  • 2015 July - Institute of Physics and National Museum of Wales, Cardiff - "Science of Doctor Who: Time Travel and Alien Worlds".
  • 2014 Sept - St Louis Science Centre - "Science of Doctor Who: Space Travel and Alien Worlds".
  • 2014 Mar - TEDxCardiff, "Intelligent robots and the story of light"

Contributed Conference Talks

  • 2024 Aug - IAU General Assembly XXXII - "Exoplanets in education: rise of the robotic telescopes"
  • 2022 AstroEdu Conference - "Creating equitable, sustainable, and innovative educational projects using robotic telescopes"
  • 2022 - Communicating Astronomy to the Public conference - "Ada’s Adventures in Science: using comic books to educate and empower"
  • 2020 Sept - The Future of Meetings - "Robotic telescopes don't have eyepieces"
  • 2016 Jun - National Astronomy Meeting - "There is no such thing as a stupid question"
  • 2016 April - TEMI conference - "Big Questions in Science"
  • 2015 Jun - National Astronomy Meeting - "Universe in the Classroom"
  • 2014 Jun - National Astronomy Meeting - "astroEDU: open access and peer-review for astronomy education"
  • 2012 Aug - IAU General Assembly XXIX - Special Session: Communicating Astronomy to the Public
  • 2012 Aug - IAU General Assembly XXIX - Office of Astronomy for Development
  • 2011 April - .Astronomy 3 - "Creating an open network of robotic telescopes"
  • 2009 Sept - .Astronomy 1 - "Social media: An astronomers field guide"
  • 2009 Jan - International Year of Astronomy Cultural Heritage conference

Workshops and Conference Sessions Organized

  • 2024 Aug - IAU General Assembly XXXII - Focus Meeting 10 - Teaching capacity of remote observing facilities for Universities and High Schools
  • 2021 Oct - IAU Shaw Meeting, "astroEDU: improving educational activities through peer-review" session
  • 2018 June - National Astronomy Meeting, "Art Space" session
  • 2016 June - National Astronomy Meeting Schools' Day organizer
  • 2016 June - National Astronomy Meeting outreach session chair
  • 2016 June - .Astronomy 8 - Snakes & Ponies: A Beginners guide to Django
  • 2016 April - Robotic Telescopes in Education, Leiden Observatory
  • 2015 Aug - STFC Summer School — 2015 Aug - Python in Astronomy — 2015 Aug - Git 4 Astronomers
  • 2015 June - National Astronomy Meeting education session chair
  • 2015 June - National Astronomy Meeting - Hack Day
  • 2015 Mar - Reykjavik teacher workshop
  • 2014 June - National Astronomy Meeting education session chair
  • 2013 April - AstroPython workshop, Cardiff University
  • 2012 Aug - Galileo Teacher Training, Beijing
  • 2009 Dec - .Astronomy - Astronomy Podcasting
  • 2007 April - EU-Hands on Universe teacher international training conference

Significant Grants

  • 2021 - 2024 - Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation to support Global Sky Partners
  • 2020 - 2023 - Simons Foundation to support Global Sky Partners
  • 2014 - 2018 Universe in the Classroom (Co-founder) - National Science Academy, Welsh Government
  • 2014 - 2017 NEO follow-up (Co-I) - NASA, see NEO exchange website created by me for this project
  • 2013 - 2016 Fascination Astronomy (Co-I) - Qatar Foundation

Selected Web Projects

astroEDU

Django - Founder, lead developer, maintainer, and editor A peer-review system for astronomy education activities. The activities are reviewed by an educator and scientist from the community before being published on the website. The website is available in English, Italian and Spanish.

Explore @ Photon Ranch

VueJS - Developer Real-time and queue scheduled portal for users to engage in educational projects with Las Cumbres Observatory.

Kiosk

VueJS - Creator and maintainer Interactive portal for educational audiences to schedule observations on robotic telescopes.

NEOexchange

Django - Lead developer and contributer Website for tracking observations of Near Earth Asteroids and Comets. It includes scheduling robotic telescopes, ingesting remote alerts and graphical display.

Star in a Box

Vanilla HTML, CSS, JS - Lead developer and maintainer
Web app for learning about the life cycle of stars. 2015 winner of Scientix Round 1 competition, category 2, Resources Award.

Serol's Cosmic Explorers

Django - Programme manager and lead developer
Suite of interative web apps for exploring astronomy through missions, challenges and using robotic telescopes.

Asteroid Tracker (active 2014 - 2018)

Initially Django but now static HTML - Creator and lead developer Web app to which triggers observations of asteroids (with Las Cumbres Observatory)) with a single click. Everyone's image get automatically combined into timelapses of the asteroids moving through space.

Agent Exoplanet (active 2013 - 2023)

Initially Django but now static HTML - Lead developer
An online LCO citizen science project for investigating the properties of transiting extra-solar planets. It allowed users to directly make measurements from

More of my projects can be found on my GitHub profile.

Coding Languages

See GitHub for my recent software projects

  • Python
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • Javascript
  • PHP
  • Fortran

Web Frameworks

  • Django
  • Flask
  • VueJS