Teresa Anderson, Monica Grady and Libby Jackson open the 2019 festival with a lively discussion about science fact and science fiction.

Teresa Anderson is Director of Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre.

Teresa earned a Masters in Instrumentation and Analytical Science at The University of Manchester and gained a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh. She went on to work for Practical Action, a charity which uses technology to challenge poverty in developing countries and her work to her to the Himalayas, Sri Lanka and the South American rainforest. She returned to the UK to work with the Science Policy Research Unit and the University of Warwick on Renewable Energy and Climate Change Policy. She spent three years creating the UK Café Scientifique network with Duncan Dallas and Tom Shakespeare, which has now established a significant national and international reputation. She then joined NESTA to work on Science-Culture-Arts policy before returning to Manchester to establish Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre in 2010.

Teresa co-curates the science elements of the bluedot programme alongside Tim O’Brien, and will be presenting a DotTalks lecture on the story and heritage of Jodrell Bank.

Monica Grady is Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University, where she studies the origin and evolution of the Solar System through measurement of meteorites. She is a science advisor to one of the Instrument teams associated with the Philae comet lander. Before joining the Open University, she worked in the Department of Mineralogy at the Natural History Museum in London. She is a regular contributor to TV and other media, and was awarded the CBE in 2012 for services to space sciences.

Libby Jackson is one of Britain’s leading experts in human spaceflight, having spent over a decade working at the forefront of the field in mission control and management roles. Libby joined the UK Space Agency in 2014 and currently manages the Human Exploration Programme at the UK Space Agency. Previously Libby managed the hugely successful education programme for Tim Peake’s mission to the ISS, as well as acting as a spokesperson throughout the mission.

Libby has had a life-long interest in human spaceflight. After graduating with a BSc in Physics from Imperial College and a Master’s degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University, Libby worked for Airbus Defence and Space in satellite operations. Prior to her time at the UK Space Agency, Libby worked in Mission Control as a flight controller and then Flight Director for the Columbus module, Europe’s laboratory on the ISS.

Libby is a regular spokesperson for the UK Space Agency on matters relating to human spaceflight and exploration. She has been a guest on various television and radio programmes, including Stargazing Live, Astronauts: Do you Have What it Takes?, Blue Peter and many national and local news programmes.