Rate My Professor Rachel Webster

Webster's research focuses on gravitational lensing, quasars, and large HI surveys. Key contributions include the Parkes Quasar Survey identifying dust-obscured quasars, the HI Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS) mapping neutral hydrogen in over 5000 galaxies, and work with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) on Epoch of Reionization studies and the GLEAM survey. She has co-authored over 300 papers and supervised more than 30 graduate students. Selected publications are "PUMA: The Positional Update and Matching Algorithm" (Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 2017), "Spectral Energy Distribution and Radio Halo of NGC 253 at Low Radio Frequencies" (Astrophysical Journal, 2017), "A high reliability survey of discrete Epoch of Reionization foreground sources in the MWA EoR0 field" (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2016), and "CHIPS: The Cosmological HI Power Spectrum Estimator" (Astrophysical Journal, 2016). Her awards include the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professorship (2016), Honorary Fellowship of the Astronomical Society of Australia (2016), Robert Ellery Lectureship (2013), Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics (2007), and Victorian Honour Roll of Women (2010). Leadership roles encompass Chair of the Board of Directors for Astronomy Australia Limited, University of Melbourne Node Director for CAASTRO, and President of the University Academic Board (2015-2016). She co-created the Women in Physics Program to boost female physics graduates.