SPACE SCIENTIST
Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a space scientist. Since February 2014, she has presented the long-running astronomy television programme The Sky At Night. Born in Britain to Nigerian parents, Aderin-Pocock attended 13 different schools before studying physics at Imperial College London and taking a PhD in mechanical engineering. She has worked in private industry, on government contracts and in academic research.
While she was lead scientist at Astrium, the optical instrumentation group, researching for the European Space Agency and NASA, she started giving talks to children and young people, which led to her becoming a television presenter. Since having her daughter in 2010, she has concentrated on consultancy and on her career as a presenter and a promoter of science.