Teresa Anderson

Anderson completed an undergraduate degree in the School of Physics at the University of Manchester in 1986.^{[citation needed]} She earned a Masters in Instrumentation and Analytical Science.^[when?] She received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh^{[1] [2][3]} where her thesis was on developing renewable energy systems in Nepal.^[1] She also holds a Master's degree in Fine Art from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.^{[citation needed]}

After graduating she went on to work for Practical Action, a charity which uses technology to challenge poverty in developing countries.^[4] Anderson worked in the Himalayas, Sri Lanka and the South American rainforest.^[2] She returned to the UK to work with the Science Policy Research Unit and the University of Warwick on Renewable Energy and Climate Change Policy.^[5] Anderson spent three years creating the UK Café Scientifique network with Duncan Dallas and Tom Shakespeare, which has now established a significant national and international reputation.^[6] She then joined NESTA to work on Science-Culture-Arts policy.^[5]

In 2006, Anderson joined Jodrell Bank Observatory.^[7] In 2010 she began to set up the Discovery Centre, which opened in 2011.^[8][9][10] Today Anderson is Director of the Discovery Centre at Jodrell Bank Observatory which welcomes over 185,000 visitors per year.^[11] The Jodrell Bank schools programme started in 2012 and sees 26,000 school children visit per year.^[11] The Centre is run as a Social enterprise and receives very little funding.^[12]

The centre run Live from Jodrell Bank science-music events, including bands such as The Flaming Lips, New Order and Elbow alongside scientific research such as graphene and the Large Hadron Collider.^[10][13] The Centre has won many awards, including Marketing Cheshire's Team of the Year and the UK Festival Awards Extreme Creativity award.^[14] In 2015 Anderson secured £12 million of Heritage Lottery Fund support to develop the Grade I listed site.^[15] In 2016, Anderson launched Bluedot, a festival of discovery based at Jodrell Bank Observatory.^[16][4] Practical Action are one of the Bluedot Festival's charity partners.^[17] She was awarded an honorary Professorship at the University of Manchester.^[18][19] In 2017, Anderson and the Jodrell Bank Observatory Discovery Centre were awarded £4 million in the Autumn Statement.^[20][21][22] After many years of work by Anderson and Professor Tim O'Brien, the site, home to the Lovell Telescope, was selected as the UK's 2019 nomination for UNESCO World Heritage Site.^{[23][24][25][26]}

Anderson was recognised for her services to Astrophysics in 2013, when the Queen awarded her an MBE.^[27][28] She won the 2014 Institute of Physics Kelvin Prize for Public Engagement with physics, alongside Tim O'Brien.^[10][29] Anderson was Chair of the Association of Science and Discovery Centres in 2010, a role she held until 2015.^[30][5] Anderson is on the Advisory Panel for the Science and Technology Facilities Council Public Engagement strategy.^[31] She is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.^[32]

In 2015 Anderson became Chair of the Daphne Jackson Trust, a charity which supports scientists in their return-to-work following career breaks.^[33][34][35]