When Vanessa was a kid, the list of things she wanted to be when she grew up was endless. She was intensely curious about the world around her, and it was this curiosity that led her to a career in science.

In her astronomy research, she has studied phenomena across the Universe, from the hidden structure of the Milky Way halo to dense gas casting shadows against distant black holes. She has a keen interest in data visualisation, automation, science communication and technology.

Now, Vanessa is a radio astronomer based at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, working at the boundaries between astronomy, telescope operations and data science. She oversees science operations for the groundbreaking ASKAP telescope in remote Western Australia, managing astronomical observations from specification to arrival for processing at the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. She hopes one day the telescopes she works with will be both automated and autonomous.

Vanessa is also passionate about making STEM organisations more inclusive and sustainable, leveraging the benefits of technology for improved collaboration. She is part of the Australian Academy of Science EMCR Forum Executive, and leads “The Future of Meetings” community to explore and champion new approaches for more effective distributed communication.

Dr Vanessa Moss is a Superstar of STEM.