Stars and Sensationalism: Searching for the First Stars in the James Webb Space Telescope Era

We woke up to new records for the farthest galaxy almost daily, and we have now seen light emitted from stars only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. I will showcase the implications of the new era of JWST for our understanding of the early Universe, and informally discuss how the public and scientific community treat and accept new discoveries.

Bio:

Dr Emma Chapman is a faculty member and Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin fellow based at the University of Nottingham. She is among the world's leading researchers in search of the first stars to light up our Universe, 13 billion years ago. Emma released her first popular science book in 2020, ‘First Light’, and she has been the recipient of multiple commendations and prizes, including the Royal Society Athena Medal.  Emma loves sharing her excitement for her subject in her science outreach.  Emma has also done a lot of work on gender equality and especially harassment in higher education, which, she says, is less fun, but important.