Professor Suzie Imber achieved international recognition when she won the BBC2 TV series ‘Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?’ She is Professor of Planetary Science at the University of Leicester, specialising in studying the impact of the solar wind on the planets in our solar system.
In 2019, Suzie was selected for Homeward Bound, a 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 (re-scheduled for 2023, after being postponed due to covid), the programme includes leadership style and mentality, effective communication, building teams, personal and organisational strategy, mental health and wellbeing.
Suzie has appeared at the Royal Albert Hall with Professor Brian Cox, Robin Ince, astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield, and Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart.
She has spoken at many science festivals, including BlueDot, Gravity Fields, Cheltenham, Farnborough AirShow, New Scientist Live, Latitude, AstroFest, SpaceRocks and the Virgin Galactic Space Festival (US).
Suzie has addressed many conferences and seminars in the UK, Europe, the US and Russia, most often as a keynote speaker. She has also chaired conference sessions and served on event organising committees.
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’s entertaining, inspirational and offers the audience the opportunity to reflect on their own sources of motivation and enthusiasm.
Suzie is known for tailoring her presentations which can encompass
1 The future of the space industry and exploration
2 The history, and future, of human spaceflight
3 Climate change and what we can do about it
4 Earth observation, and how we can use satellite data for humanitarian and societal benefit
5 Writing computer code to identify mountains, and launching expeditions to achieve first ascents (risk, challenge, resilience, teamwork)
She also speaks on becoming an international athlete, mountaineer, space scientist, appearing on the BBC Astronauts series, climate leadership and the upcoming voyage to Antarctica.
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 a large audience world-wide, followed by a live Q&A and was short-listed for a media award.
Suzie was awarded 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.
Suzie has written 43 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.
She has co-authored two books:
“A Dungey Cycle in the Life of Mercury’s Magnetosphere” (2021)
“Mercury’s Dynamic magnetosphere” (2018)
TESTIMONIALS
“Best speaker ever. Better feedback about Suzie than when we had Hillary Clinton as our principal speaker!”
Global consulting firm. London. May 2022
“Thank you very much for joining us as the speaker at our flagship Annual Conference. Your talk was greatly inspiring, given the amount you have achieved. It was equally educational on space exploration and on the mindset needed to overcome challenges. We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the audience, who were engaged till the end and appreciated the opportunity to ask questions too”.
CEO, Pensions & Life Savings Association, 2022.
“Thanks Suzie – it was a great session and certainly very inspiring!”
Ucisa 2022, Cardiff. July 2022
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Suzie on multiple projects, both for our own AstroAgency events and also in collaboration with partners such as the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), UK Space Agency and Space Scotland (together with Scottish Government). Suzie’s presentation and speaking skills are exceptional, but what further distinguishes Suzie is her level of understanding on such a wide range of topics, particularly in the realm of space and science. Her engaging style, bringing together enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge, is a rare combination and a hugely effective way to entertain and inform groups of any age. Our team love working with her and our event participants are always left impressed! There is simply nobody we’d rather work with.”
Daniel Smith, Founder of AstroAgency, Director of Space Scotland
“Suzie was a fantastic addition to our Space & Geospatial Virtual Pavilion for COP26. Suzie chaired three plenary sessions with energy and thoughtful interaction, and the result was quality. We could have run the plenary session as we always do, with a chair introducing a series of presentations and panel discussions but with Suzie onboard we transformed the event into something dynamic, insightful and yet colloquial. Our audience agreed it was a great way to make a difficult subject more personal and digestible. We were so happy to have her on board that we are now employing her services for a follow-up podcast series”
Luca Budello, Geospatial Lead @ KTN.
“Feedback from both your sessions has been phonemical – really appreciate it. An absolute pleasure to meet you and hear your story!”
Microsoft USA
“Thank you so much for attending our offsite at the National Space Centre. Your keynote speech was inspirational and we’ve had such wonderful feedback from all who listened and met you afterwards. Hope our paths cross in future. You’ll be a popular lady to come and talk for us!”
Communications Director, BGL Group