Flinders space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman stands in the spotlight in the leadup to the inaugural Australian Space Awards. She has been shortlisted for Academic of the Year, and Researcher of the Year categories, placing Dr Gorman (aka #DrSpaceJunk) at the forefront of leading space industry professionals driving the development of Australia’s space economy.

The 2020 Australian Space Awards recognise the achievements of all space industry stakeholders – from major listed organisations and corporates servicing Australia’s space economy to SMEs, start-ups, academic institutions and associations – and the award winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney on Thursday, 26 March.

In another accolade of note, Dr Gorman – who is a member of the Space Industry Association of Australia and President of the Anthropological Society of South Australia – has been shortlisted in the non-fiction category for the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, for her 2019 book Dr Space Junk Versus the Universe.

Joining Dr Gorman among the award nominees is fellow Flinders academic Dr Natalie Harkin, who has been shortlisted in the poetry category for her 2019 book Archival-Poetics.

The winners of these awards will be announced on Saturday 29 February, the first day of the Adelaide Writer’s Week event, which is being staged in the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Gardens, Adelaide.

Dr Gorman’s book – which notes that about half a million pieces of orbital debris are circling the earth, including abandoned satellites, multi-tiered rockets, and even three cars still parked on the moon – has also been the subject of much attention on popular ABC Radio program Conversations. Dr Gorman’s one-hour conversation with host Richard Fidler (first aired in April 2019) was uploaded last week to the ABC website.