News

Dear all,

I am very pleased to announce that Bethany Ludwig is the recipient of this year’s Fieldus Award. This departmental honour is awarded to a graduating student for excellence in leadership and research and comes with a $1,500 award.

Bethany has performed excellent research on binary star evolution during her PhD. In particular, she played a leading role in the identification of the first population of helium stars formed via interaction with a binary companion—a long theorized, but elusive, class of star whose true prevalence and properties will influence many fields of astrophysics, from galaxies to gravitational waves.

Bethany also took on multiple leadership positions within the department, through which she worked to ensure that it was a supportive, welcoming, and inclusive space for all its members. For example, she was a founding member of PRISM, a graduate student led LGBT2QIA+ committee, and was (co-)chair of the GASA mental health committee from 2018-2022. In the latter role she led the development of a set of recommendations to department leadership to support the mental well-being of the graduate population during the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts were invaluable for getting us all through this challenging time. She also went above and beyond in her role as head TA for multiple department courses, leading the development of documentation and training for contact TAs that will continue to be utilized by the department for years to come.

Congratulations Bethany and thank you for everything you have done for the department!

Jo