Susan Murabana Owen is a Kenyan astronomer. The co-founder of Travelling Telescope, she is known for her efforts to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics in Africa, particularly among girls.
Early life and education
Murabana grew up in
Nairobi,
Kenya, and studied sociology and economics at the city's Catholic University of Eastern Africa.
In 2011, she graduated with a master's degree in
astronomy from James Cook University in Australia, having studied online.
Murabana has cited African American astronaut
Mae Jemison and Kenyan environmentalist
Wangari Maathai as her heroes.
Astronomy career
Voluntary work
Murabana first became interested in space when she was in her twenties, when her uncle invited her to attend a science outreach programme in
Mumias,
Kakamega County, facilitated by
Cosmos Education. She subsequently became a volunteer for the organisation, and later went on to work with the International Astronomical Union's Global Hands-on Universe programme.
Travelling Telescope
In 2013, Murabana met her future husband, Daniel "Chu" Owen, at the November 2013 solar eclipse at
Lake Turkana in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Owen had previously established Travelling Telescope, in which he had travelled around his home country, the United Kingdom, allowing the public to look at space through his telescope.
In 2014 and 2015, Travelling Telescope was relaunched in Kenya as a social enterprise aiming to educate poor and remote communities about science and astronomy.
The organisation raises money by holding private events, such as the annual Shooting Star Safari in
Samburu County during the
Perseids, as well as providing astronomy services to private schools and safari lodges. The money is subsequently used to provide free outreach work to state schools and remote communities throughout Kenya.
Travelling Telescope's outreach work includes using Sky-Watcher to allow people to see including Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Venus; the Orion Nebula and Trifid Nebula ; and the Pinwheel Galaxy and Andromeda Galaxy Galaxy.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Travelling Telescope received funding from the Airbus Foundation to establish online classes in astronomy, rocketry and robotics for African schoolchildren.
Other work
Murabana has served as a national advisor for Kenya at Universe Awareness; the African representative on the International Planetarium Association; and as a board member for World Space Week.
She is also the president of the African Planetarium Association, which aims to establish more permanent planetariums around the continent.
In 2021, Murabana was named as a Space4Women mentor, as part of the United Nations' women in STEM programming.
Recognition
In 2020, Murabana and Travelling Telescope was awarded the Europlanet Award for Science Engagement.
Her work has been featured in
BBC News,
Deutsche Welle and
the Christian Science Monitor.
