Dr. Sarah C. Gallagher is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy and the Director of the interdisciplinary research Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (Western Space). Her astrophysics research focuses on light-driven winds from supermassive black holes. She employs both ground and space-based observatories that span the electromagnetic spectrum to reveal the mechanisms that link the growth of the black hole found in the centre of every massive galaxy to the galaxy itself. She is engaged in planning and advocating for next generation observatories to enable an ambitious science program to use time domain astrophysics to map black holes’ inner regions.

As the first Science Advisor to the President of the Canadian Space Agency, Dr. Gallagher advised the agency’s Executive Committee on issues related to science investments and capacity development. She served as a liaison to the academic space science community and other government departments via the Departmental Science Advisor Network of Canada’s Chief Science Advisor. During her two terms, she advised on Open Science policies and co-founded CanCOVID, the pan-Canadian pandemic research network. She teaches physics and astronomy and regularly communicates to the public about the value of space science and exploration.