Rate My Professor Brad Tucker

Associate Professor Brad Tucker is an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Mt Stromlo Observatory. He holds a B.Sc. in Physics, a B.A. in Philosophy, and a B.A. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2007, and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the Australian National University in 2013, with his thesis focused on improving measurements in supernova cosmology to pursue understanding of dark energy. Tucker's professional career began with a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley from 2009 to 2013. Since returning to ANU, he has progressed through roles including Research Fellow from 2013 to 2015, Fellow and Senior Lecturer from 2015 to 2020, and Associate Professor since 2021. He also serves at the National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science.

Tucker's research specializes in using Type Ia supernovae as standard candles to measure the accelerating Universe and probe dark energy properties, as well as all-sky and ultraviolet surveys for transient object discovery, survey design, and space instrumentation. He has made substantial contributions to major projects such as the Dark Energy Survey and the OzDES Reverberation Mapping Program. Key publications include 'Constraints on the Hubble constant from supernova Refsdal’s reappearance' (Science, 2023), 'The Magnificent Five Images of Supernova Refsdal: Time Delay and Magnification Measurements' (ApJ, 2023), 'OzDES Reverberation Mapping Program: H Beta lags from the 6-yr survey' (MNRAS, 2023), 'Compact Spatial Heterodyne Spectrographs for Future Space-Based Observations' (Sensors, 2024), and 'A revised SALT2 surface for fitting Type Ia supernova light curves' (MNRAS, 2021). His work boasts a Google Scholar h-index of 52. Tucker is a prominent figure in science outreach, organizing multiple Guinness World Record events for most people stargazing, delivering public lectures on topics like exploding stars, black holes, the solar system, and the future of space, and earning awards such as the Dean’s Commendation for Excellence in Supervision, Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Impact and Engagement Finalist, ACT Tall Poppy, Impact Award for Reach and Influence, and Silver Award from the Public Relations Institute of Australia.