Professor Suzie Imber

Keynote Speaker

Professor Suzie Imber's Biography

Suzie Imber achieved international recognition when she won the BBC2 TV series ‘Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?’.  In the series, 12 candidates undertook astronaut training with astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield, facing a range of challenges including taking their own blood, speaking Russian while in a centrifuge at 5g, and carrying out emergency procedures on the NASA undersea astronaut training facility, Aquarius. Suzie received a letter of recommendation from Chris Hadfield to support her application to the European Space Agency astronaut training programme. 

Her “day job” is as Professor of Planetary Science at the University of Leicester, where she specialises in studying space weather at the Earth and Mercury. She focusses on the interaction of planetary magnetic fields with the solar wind, and is a co-Investigator on BepiColombo spacecraft, due to arrive at Mercury in 2025. She is one of three authors of a Royal Society Futures publication looking at space exploration, in-orbit and off-planet manufacturing and resource exploitation, technology development, and scientific advancements due to be published in 2024.

Her Inaugural Professorial Lecture (Leicester University:13 March 2024) was entitled “Adventures in Velocity Space”.

Suzie dedicates much of her time to widening opportunities for disadvantaged young people to study science, running residential programmes and activities through the University, personally visiting hundreds of schools and tens of thousands of students, and founding a scholarship programme.

Pre-covid, Suzie was selected for Homeward Bound, the global leadership programme to train 100 women to become the next generation of leaders in the fight against climate change. Culminating in a 3-week voyage to Antarctica in November 2023 the programme included leadership style and mentality, effective communication, building teams, personal and organisational strategy, mental health and wellbeing. The voyage to Antarctica ignited a focus on research culture and effective leadership that Suzie is putting into practice in her professional and personal roles.

With extensive experience of speaking at live stage events, including music and science festivals, Suzie has been invited to perform at “Space Shambles” at the Royal Albert Hall, London, alongside Professor Brian Cox, Robin Ince, astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield, and Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart.
Suzie has given main-stage speeches at leading science festivals, including BlueDot, Gravity Fields, Cheltenham, Farnborough Air Show, New Scientist Live, Latitude, AstroFest, SpaceRocks and the Virgin Galactic Space Festival.

One of her most-requested speeches describes a journey combining elite sport, space science, identifying and climbing unclimbed mountains, and training to be an astronaut. It is entertaining, inspirational and offers the audience the opportunity to reflect on their own sources of motivation and enthusiasm.

Suzie works with many organisations and schools focusing primarily on STEM accessibility, and opportunity for young people from all backgrounds. She regularly hosts school events, podcasts, and awards ceremonies.

In Conversation with Tim Peake

Suzie was invited to host 'In Conversation With Tim Peake', for the launch of his 2020 autobiography. This 45-minute event was held in the Science Museum in London, live-streamed to an extensive audience world-wide, followed by a live Q&A. The Conversation and Q&A were short-listed for a media award.

TV and Radio experience

Completely at ease delivering material to camera, being interviewed, and interviewing others live on radio or TV, Suzie’s TV and media work includes:

Astronauts: Do You Have What it Takes? BBC2 television competition series involving five weeks of filming, presented by Commander Chris Hadfield, Dr Kevin Fong, and Dr Iya Whitely.
The Sky at Night: Storms on Mercury (BBC4).
Secret Cities (Bigger Bang Productions).
BBC News and Sky news live television interviews about important international space matters.
Live radio interviews for regional, national, and international radio stations.
Many podcast appearances, as host, panellist, principal guest and interviewee.

Other things to know about Suzie Imber

• England U21 lacrosse player, elite rower (sculling and sweep rowing), and high-altitude mountaineer.
• As a high-altitude mountaineer, Suzie climbed technical peaks in the Andes, Alaska, and the Himalayas. She wrote computer code to generate the first objective list of mountains in South America: in that way, she discovered hundreds of un-named mountains. She enjoys scaling these remote, unclimbed mountains, exploring new regions of our planet and she even discovered Incan ruins on the summits, proving that the Inca people were there a long time before…...
• Susie advises organisations on their outreach and community engagement programmes, including Leicester City Football Club.  She founded the Williams-Virgin Galactic scholarship programme in 2020 to support disadvantaged young people studying physics, providing mentoring and support throughout their studies.
• A member of Edale Mountain Rescue, using her mountaineering skills to rescue casualties in inaccessible regions of the Peak District.
• A passionate advocate for environmental issues, and in particular the preservation of rare and endangered species, Suzie rescued an ancient English apple orchard, discovering and cultivating rare apple varieties.
• Spent several years volunteering at a local Rescue Centre, caring for abandoned dogs.
• Suzie’s hobbies include running, rock climbing, rowing, road cycling, baking, and wushu Kung Fu (non-contact martial art). During covid lockdown, she learned carpentry, practised yoga, and cultivated a huge vegetable plot.

Academic Work Experience

Professor of Space Physics: University of Leicester 2017 – present 

Visiting Professor, University of Michigan 2014 - present

Leverhulme Research Fellow and Lecturer: University of Leicester 2014-2017

Postdoctoral Research Scientist: University of Leicester 2011-2014

Research Scientist : NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA 2008-2011

PhD in Space Plasma Physics: University of Leicester:2005-2008

MPhys, First Class Honours: Imperial College London 2001-2005

Honours and Awards

On 24 August 2021, Suzie was named as the recipient of the prestigious Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture 2021. The award is made to an individual for an outstanding contribution to any area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and to support the promotion of women in STEM. Suzie was recognised for her achievements in the field of planetary science.

NASA Team Achievement Award for contributions to the Endeavour sounding rocket: 2023

NASA Science Team Achievement Award for contributions to Mercury science: 2018

Discovering Excellence President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement (University of Leicester’s highest honour): 2018

Sir Arthur Clarke Space Achievement Award (Media): The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation 2018. Joint award shared with the BBC's 'Astronauts: Do You Have What it Takes?' production team.

PhD Thesis Prize: University of Leicester: 2008.  This award is given for the highest quality PhD thesis within the College of Science and Engineering.

Publications

Suzie has authored 48 scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals which have been cited over 1,000 times. Topics include planetary magnetospheres, the solar wind, the environment of Mercury, and mission/operations planning for the BepiColombo mission to Mercury, currently in the cruise phase, arriving in 2025.

Suzie is a co-author of

“A Dungey Cycle in the Life of Mercury’s Magnetosphere” (2021)

“Mercury’s Dynamic magnetosphere” (2018)