physics

Kirsten Banks

Kirsten Banks is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kirsten Banks rather than just read about it. In short: Kirsten Alexandra Banks is an Aboriginal Australian astrophysicist and science communicator of the Wiradjuri people, known for her work in promoting mainstream and Aboriginal astronomy. She earned a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of New South Wales in 2018, and a Ph.D in June 2024, and worked at the Sydney Observatory.

Key takeaways

Kirsten Banks belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kirsten Banks to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kirsten Banks from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kirsten Alexandra Banks is an Aboriginal Australian astrophysicist and science communicator of the Wiradjuri people, known for her work in promoting mainstream and Aboriginal astronomy. She earned a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of New South Wales in 2018, and a Ph.D in June 2024, and worked at the Sydney Observatory.

Career Banks is a Wiradjuri woman who grew up in Sydney's Northern Beaches and graduated from Davidson High School in 2014. During primary school, Banks was interested in meteorology but always had a fascination with the stars and planets. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2018 and started working as an astronomy guide at the Sydney Observatory. While training at Sydney Observatory, Banks started to hear about Kamilaroi and Boorong astronomy, prompting her to learn more about her Indigenous Australian heritage. Through this she discovered her ancestry, the Wiradjuri people. Banks then began researching more about Indigenous astronomy, learning about "celestial emus that indicate when emu eggs are available". Learning about the Emu in the Sky constellation inspired Banks to share Aboriginal astronomy with others. While exploring bushland, Banks came across rock carvings that she says "appeared to show seven planets, plus the moon, all in a line". Banks wrote that as there would have been no light pollution at the time of the carvings' creation, there would have been the ability to see six planets in the night sky with the naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Banks wrote, "I kept looking and thinking, and I realised that there was one planet missing". As Neptune is not physically visible to the human eye, Banks realised that the eighth circle may be the Earth.

I was flabbergasted – this could be evidence of our people knowing that Earth is a planet along with the others in our night skies ... a millennia before the likes of Galileo, who discovered this a mere 400 years ago! For Banks's Honours project at UNSW, she is studying the evolution of galaxies and plans to continue on to do a PhD. In 2021 her name was chosen for one of the two tunnelling machines to be used by Snowy Hydro, along with electrical engineer, Florence Violet McKenzie. She had been nominated by Brungle Public School student, Kobe Burnes. Banks was shortlisted for the Celestino Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science at the 2026 Eureka Prizes.

Science communication Banks has worked as a science communicator and is also astronomer in residence on 2SER's weekend breakfast shows and Triple M's Night Shift. On 17 June 2019, Banks appeared as a panellist on a "Science Special" of the ABC Australia television programme Q&A. Banks has promoted astrophysics and Indigenous science in the media. In 2019 she appeared on The Drum, in an episode which discussed Indigenous history. She also discussed astronomy and the role of planetary movement on ABC News, in July 2019. In Student Edge she described how her Aboriginal identity (as well as Leonardo DiCaprio) has influenced her passion for astronomy. Banks is also passionate about increasing the representation and prominence of women and girls in science.

References

External links Kirsten Banks, Q&A bio Kirsten Banks, TEDxSydney bio

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kirsten Banks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kirsten Banks claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kirsten Banks before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kirsten Banks ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kirsten Banks

In research: Kirsten Banks appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kirsten Banks in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kirsten Banks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Australian astrophysicists, Australian science communicators, Australian women astrophysicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kirsten Banks outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Kirsten Banks” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Kirsten Banks in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kirsten Banks means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kirsten Banks out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kirsten Banks in simple terms?

Why does Kirsten Banks matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kirsten Banks?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kirsten Banks.