Dr Hannah Middleton - OzGrav Associate

​I work on gravitational wave data analysis, such as searching for continuous waves from spinning neutron stars and trying to learn about massive black hole binaries with pulsar timing array results. I also enjoy outreach and I know many of you have been pestered by me to write for the LIGO Magazine!
 
I started working on gravitational waves during my PhD in Birmingham (UK). The opportunity to travel to conferences and see a bit more of the world was wonderful and at the end of my PhD, I headed for Melbourne to join OzGrav as a postdoc.
 
Being able to move to the other side of the world and live in Australia for a few years has been amazing. OzGrav has a great community and I've enjoyed the chance to meet and work with many of you over the years. I've loved exploring Australia (although not as much as I'd hoped to) and in my free time I enjoy photography and getting out for walks in the countryside. This was one of my favourite things about living in Australia - at any moment I might see a bird or bug that was totally new to me to attempt to photograph!
 
As many OzGrav-ers will be only too aware of, being far away from family during the pandemic has been tough. Not only that, job hunting has been pretty tricky too. With my postdoc contract coming to an end, I applied for the OzGrav COVID funding scheme and was very happy to be offered a place at Swinburne during 2021. I was still missing my family dearly, but having some job security and being able to continue working with OzGrav was a huge relief. Although the lockdowns meant I couldn't get over to Hawthorn as much as I would have liked, it was great to work with the Swinburne team on a project about the sensitivity of the MeerTime pulsar timing array - and learn a bit about pulsar observations along the way.
 
Late last year I moved back to the UK - a strange experience during lockdown, but a comfortable flight with only 23 passengers on one of the planes. I'm now working at the University of Birmingham on data analysis for the LISA mission as well as being an OzGrav Associate Investigator, so I hope to continue working with many of you in the future.

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