Niamh Shaw

Niamh Shaw
Dr Niamh Shaw speaking at Inspirefest 2017
Alma mater University College Dublin, Ireland
Occupation Science Communicator, artist and actress
Years active 2005 — today

Niamh Shaw is an Irish actress, scientist and science communicator. Since 2014 she is the artist in residence for the CIT BlackRock Castle Observatory. Shaw is one of Ireland’s leading science communicators.[1][2]

Early life and education

Shaw has graduated from University College Dublin in 1990 with a BE in Mechanical Engineering, focusing on Biosystems Engineering, Masters in Biosystems Engineering in 1995 and PhD in Food Science in 2001.[3][1]

From 2001–2003 Shaw was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Food Science and Technology in University College Dublin[4]

In 2015, Shaw participated in the International Space University Space Studies Programme.

Acting career

In 2003, Shaw turned to performing and acting.[5] Shaw has appeared in TV and movies. In 2007-2008 she appeared as Frances McGuigan in Fair City, and as Mable Mills in the movie Dorothy Mills. She also appeared in "Satellites & Meteorites" (2008), "A Shine of Rainbows" (2009), "Hideaways" (2011), "Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure" (2012), "You're Ugly Too" (2015).

Shaw is a regular contributor to national radio and press in science and technology related topics, and a regular blogger for Headstuff and Sky at Night astronomy magazine. As an improv comedian, she has performed with The Craic Pack Comedy Improv, The Cardinals, Snatch Comedy, Cork, and The Second City, Los Angeles.[3]

Science communicator

Shaw has been combining her scientific knowledge, improvisation and performance skills to inspire and communicate science to the public.

In 2010, Shaw teamed with Una Kavanagh to create her first theater show "That’s About the Size of It". During the making of the show, she was invited by arts initiative at CERN (Arts@CERN) to discuss her ideas about STEM and public engagements and meet physicists.[1] The show has toured from 2011 to 2013.

Other science-related shows include 'In Sight Of Eureka’ (2013), 'My Place in Space’ (2014-2016) and Memory of Place (2015).

Her science art performance,’To Space’, was funded by The Arts Council of Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland in association with CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory Cork and European Space Agency, about her dream to get to the International Space Station.[6] The show has toured in Europe and Australia between 2014-2016, including Edinburgh Fringe (2015), Adelaide Fringe (2016), Edinburgh International Science Festival (2016), and Cheltenham Science Festival (2016).

After participating in the ISU SSP 2015, she created a short documentary, ‘DREAM BIG’ about inspiring the next generation to dream big.

Since 2014 Shaw is the artist in residence for the CIT BlackRock Castle Observatory in Cork, Ireland.

Shaw is a co-founder of STEAMakers a global initiative with her fellow SSP15 alumni, to create a global community and inspire the next generation to consider careers in STEM.[7] Shaw has presented scientific papers on the collaborative nature of her work between technology, science & art.[8] Shaw is a regular speaker at STEM events to promote ‘Women in STEM’ science outreach. In 2014, she has participated in TEDxUCD (2014).[3]

Shaw has been contributing to the International Space University Space Studies Programme since 2016, as a lecturer in 2016, Core lecture co-chair in 2017, and the co-chair for the Humanities Department in 2018.[9]

Shaw is also Dublin point of contact for Ireland’s national Space week.

As of 2018 Shaw is working on her dream of getting to space.[10]

Analog Mars Missions

In 2017, she was part of Crew 173 in a simulated Mars mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah, as the artist and journalist for an international crew of six.

After MDRS-173, she experienced zero-g flight at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City.

In 2018, Shaw was an advisor and artist at a new analogue Mars facility, D-MARS located in the Ramon Crater, Israel, and documented their first analog mission D-MARS01.

Shaw's outreach is also in cooperation with Lottie Dolls. She has worked together with Lottie dolls to create a workshop for young girls, combining drama and space exploration.[11] She has brought along Stargazer Lottie to her Mars Analog mission experiences, both in Utah and Israel,[12] as well as bringing the doll to the zero-g flight in Russia.[5]

Based on her Mars Analog experiences, Shaw joined with Sarah Baxter to create Shaw's third theater show "Diary of a Martian Beekeeper" (2018).[13] In the show, Shaw is on Mars and a member of Crew 173, on a long duration mission to investigate new ways of growing food, and especially making honey on Mars. At the end of a two year mission, one crucial experiment remains for Shaw to perform, while she is struggling with personal issues. The show was funded under SFI's 2017 Discover programme and created with ESA’s Astronaut Centre in Cologne, France. Diary of a Martian Beekeeper was presented at Space Week 2017, Engineers Week 2018 and is expected to tour internationally in 2019.

Honors and Awards

In 2014 she was named one of Ireland's talented 38 Technology Women.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "'Unless I do it, it will haunt me for the rest of my life' — Former Fair City actress on her determination to become an astronaut". Independent.ie. July 1, 2018.
  2. ↑ "10 women who are strong science communicators". Siliconrepublic. November 17, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "TEDxUCD 2014 — Dr Niamh Shaw". University College Dublin.
  4. ↑ "papers published by Niamh Shaw".
  5. 1 2 "Meet a Rocket Woman: Niamh Shaw, Space Communicator, Artist & Engineer". rocket-women.com. January 21, 2018.
  6. ↑ Claire O’Connell (July 18, 2014). "Scientist-turned-performer Niamh Shaw has her sights on space". Siliconrepublic.
  7. ↑ Shaw, Niamh; Sorkhabi, E; Gasquez, O; Yajima, S (2016), "STEAMakers-a global initiative to connect STEM career professionals with the public to inspire the next generation and nurture a creative approach to science, technology, maths & engineering", EGU General Assembly Conference 2016, 18, p. 9585
  8. ↑ "Papers by Niamh Show presented at the IAC conferences". International Astronautical Congress.
  9. ↑ "Niamh Shaw, SSP18 ISU faculty". ISU.
  10. ↑ "Dr Niamh Shaw on The Tommy Tiernan Show, RTE 1 Jan 2018". January 1, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Space Week — Theatre production; workshops and talks — Niamh Shaw". primarytimes. September 2017.
  12. ↑ "Lottie is Out of this World with Astronaut Dr Niamh Shaw". Lottie Dolls. May 8, 2018.
  13. ↑ "DIARY OF A MARTIAN BEEKEEPER".
  14. ↑ John Breslin (October 10, 2014). "Ireland's Talented 38 Technology Women 2014". Technology Voice.
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