Overview
Background
Professor Tamara Davis is an astrophysicist who studies the elusive “dark energy” that’s accelerating the universe. She completed her PhD in 2004 at the University of New South Wales on theoretical cosmology and black holes, then worked on supernova cosmology in two postdoctoral fellowships, the first at the Australian National University (collaborating with Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) and the second at the University of Copenhagen. In 2008 she moved to Queensland to join the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey team working on mapping the galaxies in the Universe. She led the Dark Theme within the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics, is now leading the OzDES survey -- working with the international Dark Energy Survey, and working with working with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument project. As of 2024 she is Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery.
Her accolades include the Astronomical Society of Australia's Louise Webster Medal for early career research impact, the L'Oréal Women in Science Fellowship for Australia, the Australian Institute of Physics Women in Physics Lectureship, the Australian Academy of Science’s Nancy Millis Medal for outstanding female leadership in science, an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship, the Astronomical Society of Australia's Ellery Lectureship, and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Availability
- Professor Tamara Davis is:
- Not available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales
Research interests
-
Cosmology, Dark Energy, and Dark Matter
Using supernovae, gravitational waves, and the large-scale structure of the Universe to learn about fundamental physics. On a quest to map all the galaxies in the observable Universe.
Works
Search Professor Tamara Davis’s works on UQ eSpace
2021
Journal Article
Constraints on dark matter to dark radiation conversion in the late universe with DES-Y1 and external data
Chen, A., Huterer, D., Lee, S., Ferté, A., Weaverdyck, N., Alves, O., Leonard, C. D., Maccrann, N., Raveri, M., Porredon, A., Di Valentino, E., Muir, J., Lemos, P., Liddle, A. R., Blazek, J., Campos, A., Cawthon, R., Choi, A., Dodelson, S., Elvin-Poole, J., Gruen, D., Ross, A. J., Secco, L. F., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Sheldon, E., Troxel, M. A., Zuntz, J., Abbott, T. M.C., Aguena, M. ... Wilkinson, R. D. (2021). Constraints on dark matter to dark radiation conversion in the late universe with DES-Y1 and external data. Physical Review D, 103 (12) 123528. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.103.123528
2021
Journal Article
Dark energy survey year 3 results: photometric data set for cosmology
Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Bechtol, K., Carrasco Kind, M., Carnero Rosell, A., Becker, M. R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Gruendl, R. A., Rykoff, E. S., Sheldon, E., Yanny, B., Alarcon, A., Allam, S., Amon, A., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bernstein, G. M., Bertin, E., Burke, D. L., Carretero, J., Everett, S., Flaugher, B., Gaztanaga, E., Choi, A., Diehl, H. T., Gschwend, J., Harrison, I., Hartley, W. G., Hoyle, B., Jarvis, M., Johnson, M. D. ... Wilkinson, R. D. (2021). Dark energy survey year 3 results: photometric data set for cosmology. Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, 254 (2) 24, 24. doi: 10.3847/1538-4365/abeb66
2021
Journal Article
The first Hubble diagram and cosmological constraints using superluminous supernovae
Inserra, C., Sullivan, M., Angus, C. R., MacAulay, E., Nichol, R. C., Smith, M., Frohmaier, C., Gutiérrez, C. P., Vicenzi, M., Möller, A., Brout, D., Brown, P. J., Davis, T. M., D'Andrea, C. B., Galbany, L., Kessler, R., Kim, A. G., Pan, Y. C., Pursiainen, M., Scolnic, D., Thomas, B. P., Wiseman, P., Abbott, T. M.C., Annis, J., Avila, S., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Carnero Rosell, A. ... Tucker, B. E. (2021). The first Hubble diagram and cosmological constraints using superluminous supernovae. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 504 (2), 2535-2549. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab978
2021
Journal Article
Improving NASA/IPAC extragalactic database redshift calculations
Carr, Anthony and Davis, Tamara (2021). Improving NASA/IPAC extragalactic database redshift calculations. The Astrophysical Journal, 914 (2) 97, 1-7. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abfb6e
2021
Journal Article
The dark energy survey supernova program: Modelling selection efficiency and observed core-collapse supernova contamination
Vincenzi, M, Sullivan, M, Graur, O, Brout, D, Davis, T M, Frohmaier, C, Galbany, L, Gutiérrez, C P, Hinton, S R, Hounsell, R, Kelsey, L, Kessler, R, Kovacs, E, Kuhlmann, S, Lasker, J, Lidman, C, Möller, A, Nichol, R C, Sako, M, Scolnic, D, Smith, M, Swann, E, Wiseman, P, Asorey, J, Lewis, G F, Sharp, R, Tucker, B E, Aguena, M, Allam, S ... (DES Collaboration) (2021). The dark energy survey supernova program: Modelling selection efficiency and observed core-collapse supernova contamination. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 505 (2), 2819-2839. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab1353
2021
Journal Article
Consistency of cosmic shear analyses in harmonic and real space
Doux, C, Chang, C, Jain, B, Blazek, J, Camacho, H, Fang, X, Gatti, M, Krause, E, MacCrann, N, Samuroff, S, Secco, L F, Troxel, M A, Zuntz, J, Aguena, M, Allam, S, Amon, A, Avila, S, Bacon, D, Bertin, E, Brooks, D, Burke, D L, Rosell, A Carnero, Kind, M Carrasco, Carretero, J, Choi, A, Costanzi, M, Crocce, M, da Costa, L N, Pereira, M E S ... Wilkinson, R D (2021). Consistency of cosmic shear analyses in harmonic and real space. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 503 (3), 3796-3817. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab661
2021
Journal Article
Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: cosmological constraints from cluster abundances, weak lensing, and galaxy correlations
To, C., Krause, E., Rozo, E., Wu, H., Gruen, D., Wechsler, R. H., Eifler, T. F., Rykoff, E. S., Costanzi, M., Becker, M. R., Bernstein, G. M., Blazek, J., Bocquet, S., Bridle, S. L., Cawthon, R., Choi, A., Crocce, M., Davis, C., Derose, J., Drlica-Wagner, A., Elvin-Poole, J., Fang, X., Farahi, A., Friedrich, O., Gatti, M., Gaztanaga, E., Giannantonio, T., Hartley, W. G., Hoyle, B. ... Wilkinson, R. D. (2021). Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: cosmological constraints from cluster abundances, weak lensing, and galaxy correlations. Physical Review Letters, 126 (14) 141301, 1-8. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.141301
2021
Journal Article
The effect of systematic redshift biases in BAO cosmology
Glanville, Aaron, Howlett, Cullan and Davis, Tamara M. (2021). The effect of systematic redshift biases in BAO cosmology. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 503 (3), 3510-3521. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab657
2021
Journal Article
DES Y1 results: Splitting growth and geometry to test Lambda CDM
Muir, J., Baxter, E., Miranda, , Doux, C., Ferte, A., Leonard, C. D., Huterer, D., Jain, B., Lemos, P., Raveri, M., Nadathur, S., Campos, A., Chen, A., Dodelson, S., Elvin-Poole, J., Lee, S., Secco, L. F., Troxel, M. A., Weaverdyck, N., Zuntz, J., Brout, D., Choi, A., Crocce, M., Davis, T. M., Gruen, D., Krause, E., Lidman, C., MacCrann, N., Moller, A. ... Wilkinson, R. D. (2021). DES Y1 results: Splitting growth and geometry to test Lambda CDM. Physical Review D, 103 (2) 023528. doi: 10.1103/physrevd.103.023528
2020
Journal Article
The effect of environment on type Ia supernovae in the Dark Energy Survey three-year cosmological sample
Kelsey, L., Sullivan, M., Smith, M., Wiseman, P., Brout, D., Davis, T. M., Frohmaier, C., Galbany, L., Grayling, M., Gutiérrez, C. P., Hinton, S. R., Kessler, R., Lidman, C., Möller, A., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Uddin, S. A., Vincenzi, M., Abbott, T. M. C., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Annis, J., Avila, S., Bacon, D., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M. ... Wilkinson, R. D. (2020). The effect of environment on type Ia supernovae in the Dark Energy Survey three-year cosmological sample. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 501 (4), 4861-4876. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staa3924
2020
Journal Article
Candidate periodically variable quasars from the Dark Energy Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Chen, Yu-Ching, Liu, Xin, Liao, Wei-Ting, Holgado, A. Miguel, Guo, Hengxiao, Gruendl, Robert A., Morganson, Eric, Shen, Yue, Zhang, Kaiwen, Abbott, Tim M. C., Aguena, Michel, Allam, Sahar, Avila, Santiago, Bertin, Emmanuel, Bhargava, Sunayana, Brooks, David, Burke, David L., Rosell, Aurelio Carnero, Carollo, Daniela, Kind, Matias Carrasco, Carretero, Jorge, Costanzi, Matteo, da Costa, Luiz N., Davis, Tamara M., De Vicente, Juan, Desai, Shantanu, Diehl, H. Thomas, Doel, Peter, Everett, Spencer ... Walker, Alistair R. (2020). Candidate periodically variable quasars from the Dark Energy Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 499 (2), 2245-2264. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staa2957
2020
Journal Article
First cosmology results using supernovae Ia from the Dark Energy Survey: survey overview, performance, and supernova spectroscopy
Smith, M., D'Andrea, C. B., Sullivan, M., Moller, A., Nichol, R. C., Thomas, R. C., Kim, A. G., Sako, M., Castander, F. J., Filippenko, A. V., Foley, R. J., Galbany, L., Gonzalez-Gaitan, S., Kasai, E., Kirshner, R. P., Lidman, C., Scolnic, D., Brout, D., Davis, T. M., Gupta, R. R., Hinton, S. R., Kessler, R., Lasker, J., Macaulay, E., Wolf, R. C., Zhang, B., Asorey, J., Avelino, A., Bassett, B. A. ... Wester, W. (2020). First cosmology results using supernovae Ia from the Dark Energy Survey: survey overview, performance, and supernova spectroscopy. Astronomical Journal, 160 (6) abc01b, 267. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/abc01b
2020
Journal Article
A DESGW search for the electromagnetic counterpart to the LIGO/Virgo gravitational-wave binary neutron star merger candidate S190510g
Garcia, A., Morgan, R., Herner, K., Palmese, A., Soares-Santos, M., Annis, J., Brout, D., Vivas, A. K., Drlica-Wagner, A., Santana-Silva, L., Tucker, D. L., Allam, S., Wiesner, M., Garcia-Bellido, J., Gill, M. S. S., Sako, M., Kessler, R., Davis, T. M., Scolnic, D., Casares, J., Chen, H., Conselice, C., Cooke, J., Doctor, Z., Foley, R. J., Horvath, J., Howell, D. A., Kilpatrick, C. D., Lidman, C. ... Weller, J. (2020). A DESGW search for the electromagnetic counterpart to the LIGO/Virgo gravitational-wave binary neutron star merger candidate S190510g. Astrophysical Journal, 903 (1) 75, 1-10. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abb823
2020
Journal Article
Preliminary target selection for the DESI Quasar (QSO) sample
Yèche, Christophe, Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie, Claveau, Charles-Antoine, Brooks, David D., Chaussidon, Edmond, Davis, Tamara M., Dawson, Kyle S., Dey, Arjun, Duan, Yutong, Eftekharzadeh, Sarah, Eisenstein, Daniel J., Gaztañaga, Enrique, Kehoe, Robert, Landriau, Martin, Lang, Dustin, Levi, Michael E., Meisner, Aaron M., Myers, Adam D., Newman, Jeffrey A., Poppett, Claire, Prada, Francisco, Raichoor, Anand, Schlegel, David J., Schubnell, Michael, Staten, Ryan, Tarlé, Gregory and Zhou, Rongpu (2020). Preliminary target selection for the DESI Quasar (QSO) sample. Research Notes of the AAS, 4 (10), 179. doi: 10.3847/2515-5172/abc01a
2020
Journal Article
Discovery of a candidate binary supermassive black hole in a periodic quasar from circumbinary accretion variability
Liao, Wei-Ting, Chen, Yu-Ching, Liu, Xin, Holgado, A Miguel, Guo, Hengxiao, Gruendl, Robert, Morganson, Eric, Shen, Yue, Davis, Tamara, Kessler, Richard, Martini, Paul, McMahon, Richard G, Allam, Sahar, Annis, James, Avila, Santiago, Banerji, Manda, Bechtol, Keith, Bertin, Emmanuel, Brooks, David, Buckley-Geer, Elizabeth, Rosell, Aurelio Carnero, Kind, Matias Carrasco, Carretero, Jorge, Castander, Francisco Javier, Cunha, Carlos, D’Andrea, Chris, da Costa, Luiz, Davis, Christopher, De Vicente, Juan ... Walker, Alistair (2020). Discovery of a candidate binary supermassive black hole in a periodic quasar from circumbinary accretion variability. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 500 (3), 4025-4041. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staa3055
2020
Journal Article
The host galaxies of 106 rapidly evolving transients discovered by the Dark Energy Survey
Wiseman, P., Pursiainen, M., Childress, M., Swann, E., Smith, M., Galbany, L., Lidman, C., Davis, T. M., Gutierrez, C. P., Moller, A., Thomas, B. P., Frohmaier, C., Foley, R. J., Hinton, S. R., Kelsey, L., Kessler, R., Lewis, G. F., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Sullivan, M., Vincenzi, M., Abbott, T. M. C., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Annis, J., Bertin, E., Bhargava, S., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L. ... Walker, A. R. (2020). The host galaxies of 106 rapidly evolving transients discovered by the Dark Energy Survey. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 498 (2), 2575-2593. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staa2474
2020
Journal Article
Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs
Herner, K., Annis, J., Brout, D., Soares-Santos, M., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Butler, R., Doctor, Z., Palmese, A., Allam, S., Tucker, D. L., Sobreira, F., Yanny, B., Diehl, H. T., Frieman, J., Glaeser, N., Garcia, A., Sherman, N. F., Bechtol, K., Berger, E., Chen, H. Y., Conselice, C. J., Cook, E., Cowperthwaite, P. S., Davis, T. M., Drlica-Wagner, A., Farr, B., Finley, D., Foley, R. J. ... Zhang, Y. (2020). Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs. Astronomy and Computing, 33 100425, 100425. doi: 10.1016/j.ascom.2020.100425
2020
Journal Article
Constraints on the physical properties of GW190814 through simulations based on DECam follow-up observations by the dark energy survey
Morgan, R., Soares-Santos, M., Annis, J., Herner, K., Garcia, A., Palmese, A., Drlica-Wagner, A., Kessler, R., García-Bellido, J., Bachmann, T. G., Sherman, N., Allam, S., Bechtol, K., Bom, C. R., Brout, D., Butler, R. E., Butner, M., Cartier, R., Chen, H., Conselice, C., Cook, E., Davis, T. M., Doctor, Z., Farr, B., Figueiredo, A. L., Finley, D. A., Foley, R. J., Galarza, J. Y., Gill, M. S. S. ... Tarle, G. (2020). Constraints on the physical properties of GW190814 through simulations based on DECam follow-up observations by the dark energy survey. The Astrophysical Journal, 901 (1) 83, 83. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abafaa
2020
Journal Article
A statistical standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant from the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave compact object merger GW190814 and Dark Energy Survey Galaxies
Palmese, A., deVicente, J., Pereira, M. E. S., Annis, J., Hartley, W., Herner, K., Soares-Santos, M., Crocce, M., Huterer, D., Magana Hernandez, I., Garcia, A., Garcia-Bellido, J., Gschwend, J., Holz, D. E., Kessler, R., Lahav, O., Morgan, R., Nicolaou, C., Conselice, C., Foley, R. J., Gill, M. S. S., Abbott, T. M. C., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Avila, S., Bechtol, K., Bertin, E., Bhargava, S., Brooks, D. ... Zuntz, J. (2020). A statistical standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant from the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave compact object merger GW190814 and Dark Energy Survey Galaxies. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 900 (2) L33, 1-11. doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/abaeff
2020
Journal Article
Are the spiral arms in the MWC 758 protoplanetary disc driven by a companion inside the cavity?
Calcino, Josh, Christiaens, Valentin, Price, Daniel J., Pinte, Christophe, Davis, Tamara M., van der Marel, Nienke and Cuello, Nicolás (2020). Are the spiral arms in the MWC 758 protoplanetary disc driven by a companion inside the cavity?. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 498 (1), 639-650. doi: 10.1093/mnras/staa2468
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Tamara Davis is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Cosmology with the Dark Energy Survey
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Cullan Howlett
-
Doctor Philosophy
Weighing supermassive black holes with the Dark Energy Survey
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Benjamin Pope
-
Doctor Philosophy
Cosmological Constraints with large-scale structure: from LambdaCDM to light relics
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Cullan Howlett
-
-
Doctor Philosophy
Fundamental Plane distances from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Cullan Howlett
-
Doctor Philosophy
Galaxy motions with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Khaled Said Soliman
-
Doctor Philosophy
Observing Naked-Eye Stars and their Planets with TESS
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Benjamin Pope
-
Doctor Philosophy
Cosmology with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Cullan Howlett
Completed supervision
-
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Cosmic echos: Reverberation mapping of high-redshift supermassive black holes
Principal Advisor
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Signatures of Companions in Transitional Discs: Spiral Arms, Cavities, and Dust Asymmetries
Principal Advisor
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Deciphering dark energy: The adventures of Steve, Barry, and Pippin.
Principal Advisor
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Echo hunting: using reverberation mapping of active galactic nuclei to probe black hole growth and cosmic expansion.
Principal Advisor
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
Using the motions of galaxies to probe fundamental physics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Cullan Howlett
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
Interpretable and Physically-Motivated Deep Learning Solutions for Large-Scale Structure Cosmology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Rossana Ruggeri
-
2025
Doctor Philosophy
Completing the Puzzle: Unveiling Clues for Gravitational Wave Astrophysics and Cosmology with Simulations
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Cullan Howlett
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Whispers from the Big Bang-Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Power Spectra
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Cullan Howlett
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Quantum control in probing relativistic effects and thermodynamics
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Tamara Davis directly for media enquiries about:
- Astronomy
- Astrophysics
- Cosmology
- Dark energy
- Dark Matter
- Exploding stars
- Physics
- Quantum gravity
- Stars - astrophysics
- Supernovae (exploding stars)
- Universe
- Vacuum energy
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