Caroline Foster

Profile

Dr Caroline Foster first fell in love with physics and mathematics as a high school student. She pursued her passion with a dual major degree in physics and mathematics at Bishop’s University in Canada. It was during her undergraduate studies that Caroline became a Christian. She later pursued a masters degree in astrophysics from the same university where she studied the large scale distribution of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It was during her masters studies that she realised the power and her own passion for spectroscopy of distant objects. She pursued her passion for spectroscopy, learning the myriad treasures and richness of this data type, during her PhD in astrophysics at Swinburne University studying the dynamics and stellar content of stars and globular clusters in and around galaxies.

Since the start of her career in astronomy, Dr Foster has spent countless nights under pristine skies observing the heavens with many of the largest state-of-the-art observing facilities. Her current research interests focus on the formation and evolution of structure (mainly galaxies) across the history of the universe.

Science/Faith Interests

Dr Foster has a long term deep interest in topics at the intersection between science and faith. Despite having considered a broad range of ideas during her own Christian journey, there are still so many more unanswered questions than there are answers. While she does not have all the answers, she believes God wants us to “come now and reason together” (Isaiah 1:18). Caroline has a very inclusive and gracious perspective on the science and faith topic. She has put some of her ideas in her blog, “Caro’s Musings”.  Dr Foster enjoys sharing her faith with friends, colleagues, the public and in schools when welcomed to do so. She enjoys curiosity and pondering diverging viewpoints in safe settings.

Professional Associations

Member of the Astronomical Society of Australia and the Australian Institute of Physics.