Introducing the new leader of the Communication and Education WG

by Joe Liske on 2023-06-12

The 4MOST Principal Investigator, Roelof de Jong, is very pleased to announce Henri Boffin as our new lead for the Communication and Education Working Group (formerly called Outreach WG). Henri is a Full Astronomer at ESO, working on binary stars, exoplanets, and clusters. Within the 4MOST Project, he is a member of the Survey 4SYS (S12).

Next to having a PhD in astronomy, Henri has a formal training as journalist from the École supérieure de journalisme de Lille, France. He joined ESO in 2003 as Astronomer and Press Officer, dealing with communication about all telescopes and projects of ESO, and became the Deputy Head of the ESO Public Affairs Department. There he dealt with all aspects of communication: writing press releases; communicating with journalists, the public, and politicians; being the technical editor of the Messenger; taking care of the web site; and producing press kits, exhibitions, and education material.

Henri is looking forward to working with all 4MOST members and the institutional Communication groups to develop an encompassing science communication strategy for the Project with the aim to develop the internal newsletter, develop the web site for astronomers, journalists, and the public, and its associated blog, write press releases and interact with journalists, develop educational material, and ensure a social media presence, among others.

Executing such an ambitious programme requires a large team and we are in the process of creating a new Science Communication and Education WG. We expect to issue a call for membership of this new WG in the next few weeks for all those 4MOST members with a keen interest in the area of science communication and education. Please consider joining Henri in this important effort.