Duane W. Hamacher

PhD Candidate, Casual Lecturer, ITAS Tutor, HDR Student Rep, Webmaster, Gopher

Contact

Email: Duane.Hamacher@mq.edu.au

Phone: +61 (0)2 9850 8671

Fax: +61 (0)2 9850 7735

Office: W3A, Room 320

Web: Duane's Homepage

Publications: ADS Search | CV (PDF)

Education

BSc in Physics (Missouri)
MSc in Astronomy (New South Wales)

Research Interests

Duane is an astronomer working in the young field of Australian Archaeoastronomy (Aboriginal Astronomy). This interdisciplinary research integrates the physical and social sciences of astrophysics, meteoritics, geology, archaeology, cultural anthropology, Indigenous Studies, and history. From Dreamings, ceremonies, and initiation rites, to season cycles, timekeeping, and food economics, the night sky played a vital role in many Aboriginal cultures and continues to do so today. The colonization of Australia led to the decimation and destruction of much of this knowledge. While examples of rock art, ethnographies, and Dreaming stories give clues as to the sky's role in various Aboriginal cultures of the past, much has been lost to the sands of time. Duane's research focuses on understanding the role of the night sky in Aboriginal cultures in both the past and present with hopes of preservation for the future.

His background in observational astronomy focused on searching for transiting extrasolar planets. He is also an astronomy lecturer at Sydney Observatory and President of the Macquarie Skeptics Society.