Professor Tamara Davis
Professor

Tamara Davis

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 53134
Mobile: 
0432 526 989

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

Physical Sciences

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.

Search Professor Tamara Davis’s works on UQ eSpace

279 works between 2001 and 2025
All (279) Journal Article (271) Conference Publication (5) Book Chapter (3)

181 - 200 of 279 works

2018

Journal Article

Quasar accretion disk sizes from continuum reverberation mapping from the Dark Energy Survey

Mudd, D., Martini, P., Zu, Y., Kochanek, C., Peterson, B. M., Kessler, R., Davis, T. M., Hoormann, J. K., King, A., Lidman, C., Sommer, N. E., Tucker, B. E., Asorey, J., Hinton, S., Glazebrook, K., Kuehn, K., Lewis, G., Macaulay, E., Moeller, A., O’Neill, C., Zhang, B., Abbott, T. M. C., Abdalla, F. B., Allam, S., Banerji, M., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Rosell, A. Carnero ... DES Collaboration (2018). Quasar accretion disk sizes from continuum reverberation mapping from the Dark Energy Survey. The Astrophysical Journal, 862 (2) 123, 123. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aac9bb

Quasar accretion disk sizes from continuum reverberation mapping from the Dark Energy Survey

2018

Journal Article

Dark energy survey year 1 results: redshift distributions of the weak-lensing source galaxies

Hoyle, B., Gruen, D., Bernstein, G. M., Rau, M. M., De Vicente, J., Hartley, W. G., Gaztanaga, E., DeRose, J., Troxel, M. A., Davis, C., Alarcon, A., MacCrann, N., Prat, J., Sánchez, C., Sheldon, E., Wechsler, R. H., Asorey, J., Becker, M. R., Bonnett, C., Rosell, A. Carnero, Carollo, D., Kind, M. Carrasco, Castander, F. J., Cawthon, R., Chang, C., Childress, M., Davis, T. M., Drlica-Wagner, A., Gatti, M. ... Zuntz, J. (2018). Dark energy survey year 1 results: redshift distributions of the weak-lensing source galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 478 (1), 592-610. doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty957

Dark energy survey year 1 results: redshift distributions of the weak-lensing source galaxies

2018

Journal Article

Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: cross-correlation redshifts - methods and systematics characterization

Gatti, M., Vielzeuf, P., Davis, C., Cawthon, R., Rau, M. M., DeRose, J., De Vicente, J., Alarcon, A., Rozo, E., Gaztanaga, E., Hoyle, B., Miquel, R., Bernstein, G. M., Bonnett, C., Rosell, A. Carnero, Castander, F. J., Chang, C., da Costa, L. N., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., Hartley, W. G., Lin, H., MacCrann, N., Maia, M. A.G., Ogando, R. L.C., Roodman, A., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Troxel, M. A., Wechsler, R. H. ... Wolf, R. C. (2018). Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: cross-correlation redshifts - methods and systematics characterization. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 477 (2), 1664-1682. doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty466

Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: cross-correlation redshifts - methods and systematics characterization

2018

Journal Article

The WiggleZ dark energy survey: Final data release and the metallicity of UV-luminous galaxies

Drinkwater, Michael J., Byrne, Zachary J., Blake, Chris, Glazebrook, Karl, Brough, Sarah, Colless, Matthew, Couch, Warrick, Croton, Darren J., Croom, Scott M., Davis, Tamara M., Forster, Karl, Gilbank, David, Hinton, Samuel R., Jelliffe, Ben, Jurek, Russell J., Li, I.-Hui, Christopher Martin, D., Pimbblet, Kevin, Poole, Gregory B., Pracy, Michael, Sharp, Rob, Smillie, Jon, Spolaor, Max, Wisnioski, Emily, Woods, David, Wyder, Ted K. and Yee, Howard K.C. (2018). The WiggleZ dark energy survey: Final data release and the metallicity of UV-luminous galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 474 (3), 4151-4168. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx2963

The WiggleZ dark energy survey: Final data release and the metallicity of UV-luminous galaxies

2018

Journal Article

Studying the ultraviolet spectrum of the first spectroscopically confirmed supernova at redshift two

Smith, M., Sullivan, M., Nichol, R. C., Galbany, L., D'Andrea, C. B., Inserra, C., Lidman, C., Rest, A., Schirmer, M., Filippenko, A. V., Zheng, W., Cenko, S. Bradley, Angus, C. R., Brown, P. J., Davis, T. M., Finley, D. A., Foley, R. J., Gonzalez-Gaitan, S., Gutierrez, C. P., Kessler, R., Kuhlmann, S., Marriner, J., Moller, A., Nugent, P. E., Prajs, S., Thomas, R., Wolf, R., Zenteno, A., Abbott, T. M. C. ... Walker, A. R. (2018). Studying the ultraviolet spectrum of the first spectroscopically confirmed supernova at redshift two. Astrophysical Journal, 854 (1) 37, 37. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aaa126

Studying the ultraviolet spectrum of the first spectroscopically confirmed supernova at redshift two

2017

Journal Article

OzDES multifibre spectroscopy for the Dark Energy Survey: 3-yr results and first data release

Childress, M. J., Lidman, C., Davis, T. M., Tucker, B. E., Asorey, J., Yuan, F., Abbott, T. M. C., Abdalla, F. B., Allam, S., Annis, J., Banerji, M., Benoit-Levy, A., Bernard, S. R., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D. L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Carollo, D., Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F. J., Cunha, C. E., da Costa, L. N., D'Andrea, C. B., Doel, P., Eifler, T. F., Evrard, A. E., Flaugher, B. ... Zhang, B. R. (2017). OzDES multifibre spectroscopy for the Dark Energy Survey: 3-yr results and first data release. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 472 (1), 273-288. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx1872

OzDES multifibre spectroscopy for the Dark Energy Survey: 3-yr results and first data release

2017

Journal Article

The Taipan Galaxy Survey: Scientific Goals and Observing Strategy

da Cunha, Elisabete, Hopkins, Andrew M., Colless, Matthew, Taylor, Edward N., Blake, Chris, Howlett, Cullan, Magoulas, Christina, Lucey, John R., Lagos, Claudia, Kuehn, Kyler, Gordon, Yjan, Barat, Dilyar, Bian, Fuyan, Wolf, Christian, Cowley, Michael J., White, Marc, Achitouv, Ixandra, Bilicki, Maciej, Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, Bolejko, Krzysztof, Brown, Michael J. I., Brown, Rebecca, Bryant, Julia, Croom, Scott, Davis, Tamara M., Driver, Simon P., Filipovic, Miroslav D., Hinton, Samuel R., Johnston-Hollitt, Melanie ... Watson, Fred (2017). The Taipan Galaxy Survey: Scientific Goals and Observing Strategy. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 34 e047, 1-28. doi: 10.1017/pasa.2017.41

The Taipan Galaxy Survey: Scientific Goals and Observing Strategy

2017

Journal Article

A blinded determination of H-0 from low-redshift Type Ia supernovae, calibrated by Cepheid variables

Zhang, Bonnie R., Childress, Michael J., Davis, Tamara M., Karpenka, Natallia V., Lidman, Chris, Schmidt, Brian P. and Smith, Mathew (2017). A blinded determination of H-0 from low-redshift Type Ia supernovae, calibrated by Cepheid variables. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 471 (2), 2254-2285. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx1600

A blinded determination of H-0 from low-redshift Type Ia supernovae, calibrated by Cepheid variables

2017

Journal Article

Discovery of a z=0.65 post-starburst BAL quasar in the DES supernova fields

Mudd, Dale, Martini, Paul, Tie, Suk Sien, Lidman, Chris, McMahon, Richard, Banerji, Manda, Davis, Tamara, Peterson, Bradley, Sharp, Rob, Seymour, Nicholas, Childress, Michael, Lewis, Geraint, Tucker, Brad, Yuan, Fang, Abbot, Tim, Abdalla, Filipe, Allam, Sahar, Benoit-Levy, Aurelien, Bertin, Emmanuel, Brooks, David, Camero Rosell, A., Kind, Matias Carrasco, Carretero, Jorge, da Costa, Luiz N., Desai, Shantanu, Diehl, Thomas, Eifler, Tim, Finley, David, Flaugher, Brenna ... Zhang, Bonnie (2017). Discovery of a z=0.65 post-starburst BAL quasar in the DES supernova fields. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 468 (3), 3682-3688. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx708

Discovery of a z=0.65 post-starburst BAL quasar in the DES supernova fields

2017

Journal Article

The effects of velocities and lensing on moments of the Hubble diagram

Macaulay, E., Davis, T. M., Scovacricchi, D., Bacon, D., Collett, T. and Nichol, R. C. (2017). The effects of velocities and lensing on moments of the Hubble diagram. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 467 (1), 259-272. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw3339

The effects of velocities and lensing on moments of the Hubble diagram

2017

Journal Article

Promoting Policy and Environmental Change in Faith-Based Organizations: Description and Findings From a Mini-Grants Program

Arriola, Kimberly R. Jacob, Hermstad, April, Flemming, Shauna St Clair, Honeycutt, Sally, Carvalho, Michelle L., Cherry, Sabrina T., Davis, Tamara, Frazier, Sheritta, Escoffery, Cam and Kegler, Michelle C. (2017). Promoting Policy and Environmental Change in Faith-Based Organizations: Description and Findings From a Mini-Grants Program. American Journal of Health Promotion, 31 (3), 192-199. doi: 10.4278/ajhp.150212-QUAN-724

Promoting Policy and Environmental Change in Faith-Based Organizations: Description and Findings From a Mini-Grants Program

2017

Journal Article

Measuring the 2D baryon acoustic oscillation signal of galaxies in WiggleZ: cosmological constraints

Hinton, Samuel R., Kazin, Eyal, Davis, Tamara M., Blake, Chris, Brough, Sarah, Colless, Matthew, Couch, Warrick J., Drinkwater, Michael J., Glazebrook, Karl, Jurek, Russell J., Parkinson, David, Pimbblet, Kevin A., Poole, Gregory B., Pracy, Michael and Woods, David (2017). Measuring the 2D baryon acoustic oscillation signal of galaxies in WiggleZ: cosmological constraints. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 464 (4), 4807-4822. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw2725

Measuring the 2D baryon acoustic oscillation signal of galaxies in WiggleZ: cosmological constraints

2017

Journal Article

A study of quasar selection in the supernova fields of the dark energy survey

Tie, S. S., Martini, P., Mudd, D., Ostrovski, F., Reed, S. L., Lidman, C., Kochanek, C., Davis, T. M., Sharp, R., Uddin, S., King, A., Wester, W., Tucker, B. E., Tucker, D. L., Buckley-Geer, E., Carollo, D., Childress, M., Glazebrook, K., Hinton, S. R., Lewis, G., Macaulay, E., O'Neill, C. R., Abbott, T. M. C., Abdalla, F. B., Annis, J., Benoit-Levy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Carnero Rosell, A. ... Walker, A. R. (2017). A study of quasar selection in the supernova fields of the dark energy survey. Astronomical Journal, 153 (3) 107, 107. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/aa5b8d

A study of quasar selection in the supernova fields of the dark energy survey

2017

Book Chapter

Characterizing dark energy through supernovae

Davis, Tamara M. and Parkinson, David (2017). Characterizing dark energy through supernovae. Handbook of Supernovae. (pp. 2623-2645) edited by Athem W. Alsabti and Paul Murdin. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-21846-5_106

Characterizing dark energy through supernovae

2017

Journal Article

The need for accurate redshifts in supernova cosmology

Calcino, Josh and Davis, Tamara (2017). The need for accurate redshifts in supernova cosmology. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2017 (1) 038, 038-038. doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2017/01/038

The need for accurate redshifts in supernova cosmology

2016

Journal Article

Cosmology with peculiar velocities: observational effects

Andersen, P., Davis, T. M. and Howlett, C. (2016). Cosmology with peculiar velocities: observational effects. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 463 (4), 4083-4092. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw2252

Cosmology with peculiar velocities: observational effects

2016

Journal Article

Classification of 17 DES supernova with OzDES

Mudd, D., Martini, P., Lewis, G. F., Moller, A., Sharp, R. G., Sommer, N. E., Tucker, B. E., Yuan, F., Zhang, B., Asorey, J., Davis, T. M., Hinton, S., Muthukrishna, D., Parkinson, D., Carnero, A., King, A., Lidman, C., Webb, S., Uddin, S., Kessler, R., Lasker, J., Scolnic, D., Brout, D. J., D'Andrea, C., Gladney, L., March, M., Sako, M., Wolf, R. C., Brown, P. J. ... Schubnell, M. (2016). Classification of 17 DES supernova with OzDES. The Astronomer's Telegram (9742)

Classification of 17 DES supernova with OzDES

2016

Journal Article

RedMaGiC: selecting luminous red galaxies from the DES Science Verification data

Rozo, E., Rykoff, E. S., Abate, A., Bonnett, C., Crocce, M., Davis, C., Hoyle, B., Leistedt, B., Peiris, H. V., Wechsler, R. H., Abbott, T., Abdalla, F. B., Banerji, M., Bauer, A. H., Benoit-Levy, A., Bernstein, G. M., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D. L., Capozzi, D., Rosell, A. Carnero, Carollo, D., Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F. J., Childress, M. J., Cunha, C. E., D'Andrea, C. B. ... da Costa, L. N. (2016). RedMaGiC: selecting luminous red galaxies from the DES Science Verification data. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 461 (2), 1431-1450. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw1281

RedMaGiC: selecting luminous red galaxies from the DES Science Verification data

2016

Journal Article

The Dark Energy Survey: more than dark energy - an overview

Abbott, T., Abdalla, F. B., Aleksic, J., Allam, S., Amara, A., Bacon, D., Balbinot, E., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Levy, A., Bernstein, G. M., Bertin, E., Blazek, J., Bonnett, C., Bridle, S., Brooks, D., Brunner, R. J., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D. L., Caminha, G. B., Capozzi, D., Carlsen, J., Carnero-Rosell, A., Carollo, M., Carrasco-Kind, M., Carretero, J., Castander, F. J., Clerkin, L., Collett, T. ... Zuntz, J. (2016). The Dark Energy Survey: more than dark energy - an overview. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 460 (2), 1270-1299. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw641

The Dark Energy Survey: more than dark energy - an overview

2016

Journal Article

Redshift distributions of galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification shear catalogue and implications for weak lensing

Bonnett, C., Troxel, M. A., Hartley, W., Amara, A., Leistedt, B., Becker, M. R., Bernstein, G. M., Bridle, S. L., Bruderer, C., Busha, M. T., Kind, M. Carrasco, Childress, M. J., Castander, F. J., Chang, C., Crocce, M., Davis, T. M., Eifler, T. F., Frieman, J., Gangkofner, C., Gaztanaga, E., Glazebrook, K., Gruen, D., Kacprzak, T., King, A., Kwan, J., Lahav, O., Lewis, G., Lidman, C., Lin, H. ... Walker, A. R. (2016). Redshift distributions of galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification shear catalogue and implications for weak lensing. Physical Review D, 94 (4) 042005. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.94.042005

Redshift distributions of galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification shear catalogue and implications for weak lensing

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2028
    Cosmic Cartography to Counter Cosmic Conundrums
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2027
    Australian Partnership in the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (ARC LIEF administered by UNSW)
    University of New South Wales
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2031
    ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (ARC Centre of Excellence administered by Swinburne University)
    Swinburne University of Technology
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2025
    A Space Odyssey: Exploring the Universe with Gravitational-Wave Sirens
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2026
    Big Questions Institute Fellowship
    Big Questions Institute Pty Ltd
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2019 - 2024
    Illuminating the Dark Universe
    ARC Australian Laureate Fellowships
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    Doubling the power of the TAIPAN survey facility (ARC LIEF grant administered by The Australian National University)
    Australian National University
    Open grant
  • 2017
    Ian Potter Conference Grant: Dark Energy Survey Collaboration Meeting 2017
    Ian Potter Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2019
    Weighing Black Holes with The Australian Dark Energy Survey
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2019
    Details of the Dark Side
    Vice-Chancellor's Research and Teaching Fellowship
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2016
    The Australian European Southern Observatory Positioner (AESOP) (ARC LIEF Project administered by The University of Western Australia)
    University of Western Australia
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2017
    Mapping the Dark Matter with Early Type Galaxies (ARC Linkage Project administered by Swinburne University of Technology)
    Swinburne University of Technology
    Open grant
  • 2014 - 2015
    Mapping the Universe with the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PanSTARRS) (ARC LIEF Grant administered by The University of Sydney)
    ARC LIEF Collaborating/Partner Organisation Contributions
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2017
    ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) (ARC COE administered by the University of Sydney)
    University of Sydney
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2013
    ResTeach 2011 0.05 FTE School of Mathematics and Physics
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2013
    Fundamental physics in distant galaxies (ARC Discovery Project administered by Swinburne University)
    Swinburne University of Technology
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2012
    Investigating Growth of Structure in the Universe using ASKAP and SkyMapper
    UWA-UQ Bilateral Research Collaboration Award
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2014
    Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Dark Flow: Galaxy motion reveals fundamental physics
    ARC Future Fellowships
    Open grant
  • 2008 - 2010
    Cosmological testing of fundamental physics
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Tamara Davis is:
Not available for supervision

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Gravitational wave cosmology

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Cullan Howlett

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Cosmological Constraints with large-scale structure: from LambdaCDM to light relics

    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

    Cosmology with the Dark Energy Survey

    Principal 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

    Using the motions of galaxies to probe fundamental physics

    Associate 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

    Observing Naked-Eye Stars and their Planets with TESS

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Benjamin Pope

Completed supervision

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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