Dr. Marcin Sawicki is the Canada Research Chair and a Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Saint Mary's University. He studies how galaxies first formed when the Universe was just a few percent of its present age, and how they subsequently grew over time to become beautiful giant structures such as our own home, the Milky Way Galaxy.
Prof. Sawicki obtained his BSc at McMaster University and his MSc and PhD at the University of Toronto. Before coming to Halifax, he held appointments at the California Institute of Technology, the National Research Council of Canada, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Prof. Sawicki has served on advisory panels for NASA, the National Science Foundation, and major international astronomical observatories.
For nearly two decades Prof. Sawicki has been a core member of the science team for NIRISS, the made-in-Canada instrument on the Webb telescope, and he is now excited beyond belief to be using Webb - the most powerful space telescope ever built - to study our Universe and its contents.