Laurie Rousseau-Nepton: How Western and Indigenous Knowledge Benefits Astronomers

How can different perspectives improve the study of astronomy? In this episode of Root & STEM podcast, we hear from Laurie Rousseau-Nepton, the Resident Astronomer at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and the Principal Investigator for SIGNALS. Laurie speaks on how Indigenous knowledge and methodologies have helped her understand the universe (01:19) and impacted the way she views the stars (03:41). Laurie also explains the SIGNALS project (05:51), the technology behind it (08:58), and why her work is so important (10:02). As the first Indigenous woman in Canada to earn a PhD in astrophysics, Laurie shares what the title means to her and offers words of encouragement to other underrepresented community members (12:24), as well as her hopes for the future (15:59).