Bio for Lars Lindberg Christensen

Lars is a science communication specialist heading ESO-Hubble outreach group in Munich, Germany, responsible for public outreach and education for VLT, La Silla, for ESO's part of ALMA (the largest and most expensive ground-based astronomical project currently under construction), ELT (the largest visible light/near-infrared telescope in planning) and ESA’s part of the Hubble Space Telescope.

He obtained his Master’s Degree in physics and astronomy from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Before assuming his current position, he spent a decade working as a science communicator and technical specialist for Tycho Brahe Planetarium in Copenhagen.

Lars has more than 100 publications to his credit, most of them in popular science communication and in its theory. His other productive interests lie in the areas of graphical communication, written communication, technical communication and scientific communication. He has written several books, for instance The Hands-On Guide to Science Communicators (Springer, 2006) and Hubble – 15 Years of Discovery (Springer, 2006). His books have been translated to Finnish, Portuguese, Danish, German and Chinese.

He has produced material for a multitude of different media from star shows, laser shows and slide shows, to web, print, TV and radio. His methodology is focussed on devising and implementing innovative strategies for the production of efficient science communication and educational material. This work involves working with highly skilled graphics people and technicians, some results of which are visible at: http://www.spacetelescope.org

He is Press Officer for the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a founding member and secretary of the IAU Commission 55 Communicating Astronomy with the Public (http://www.communicatingastronomy.org ), manager of the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator project, executive editor of the peer-reviewed Communicating Astronomy with the Public journal, manager of the IAU International Year of Astronomy Secretariat, and the Executive producer and director of the science documentary movie Hubble – 15 Years of Discovery (~800,000 copies distributed). Lars received the Tycho Brahe Medal in 2005 as the youngest recipient so far for his achievements in science communication.