Anna Frebel

Prof. Frebel is an observational astronomer and astrophysicist. She received her PhD from the Australian National University’s Mt. Stromlo Observatory in 2007, and did postdoctoral work as a WJ McDonald Fellow in Austin, TX (2006-2008) and as Clay Fellow at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), in Cambridge, MA (2009-2012).

Prof. Frebel has received numerous honors and awards including the 2010 Annie Jump Cannon Award (American Astronomical Society), a 2013 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, and in 2016 she was named one of ScienceNews Magazine’s “Ten Scientists to Watch”. She was named an American Physical Society Fellow in 2022 for “pioneering contributions to the study of low-metallicity stars, near-field cosmology, and the r-process in astrophysics.” Prof. Frebel was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2018 and to full Professor in 2022.

Prof. Frebel has authored more than 160 papers in various refereed journals, including Nature. She also enjoys communicating science to the public through regular public lectures, magazine articles, interviews as well as her popular science book “Searching for the oldest stars: Ancient Relics from the Early Universe” (Princeton University Press).

Research areas:

• Optical /IR Astronomy
• Magellan
• Cosmology
• Spectroscopy