Robert J. Thacker
Robert J. Thacker is a Canadian astronomer and professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. He directs the university’s Science Outreach Centre and has served as president of the Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA). He also sits on the board of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Education: BSc in Mathematical Physics from the University of Nottingham (1992); MSc in Mathematics from King’s College London (1993); PhD in Physics from the University of Alberta (1999).
Research and outreach: Thacker uses computer simulations to study the large-scale structure of the universe and how galaxies form. He is active in public science outreach, championing the International Year of Astronomy in 2009 and giving many public talks. He has participated in more than 350 media interviews. He co-hosted 46 episodes of Science Files on CJNI-FM in 2016 and hosted a Sounds of Science segment on CBC Radio Halifax’s Mainstreet NS. He also co-hosted a Science Files segment on The Rick Howe Show. He held a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Astronomy and Astrophysics from 2007 to 2017. Awards include the Nova Scotia Science Champion award (2015) and the CASCA Qilak Award (2018) for astronomy communications, public education, and outreach.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:03 (CET).