Kristen is passionate about empowering people to reach their potential, and her weapon of choice is books. She established Curved House Kids in 2013, after working in production and editorial at Penguin UK and Minority Rights Group, to focus on primary education. Kristen designs our educational programmes bringing both editorial and visual learning expertise. 

Lucie’s favourite thing in the world is books, so it’s no surprise that she decided to become an editor. After working for publishing houses in Australia, she relocated to Berlin to write novels and educational books for children. Now back in Sydney, she is working remotely for Curved House while she launches a series of online workshops for Australian writers called Mirrabooka.

We rely on a talented network of people from the creative and education sectors who provide the expertise we need for each unique project. We showcase them here to celebrate their invaluable contributions to our projects.

Author of the George Greenby adventure series, Lucy Hawking is passionate about engaging young readers in science through compelling storytelling. Formerly a journalist, Lucy has also written comedy novels for adults and is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Self proclaimed Illustrator Extraordinaire, Ben Hawkes is a children’s author and illustrator. His books have been published by Penguin Random House, Jonathan Cape and Curved House Kids, and he is the illustrator for phonics early education app Hip Hop Hen.

As an illustrator, Hannah loves experimenting with shapes and colours. She’s always on the lookout for interesting things to draw; at the moment this includes cheeky seagulls and distant galaxies. Based in London, Hannah also works at the Royal College of Art, devising creative workshops for young people and students.

Claire is a passionate advocate of STEM-learning, with both primary and secondary teaching experience. Previously Head of Science at an all-girls school in London, Claire co-authored our Engaging Girls in STEM Guide, and plays a crucial role in helping us develop our classroom resources.

Professor of Computer Science and VP for Public Engagement and Student Enterprise at Queen Mary University of London, Peter is a robotics enthusiast who provides outreach support to Curved House Kids and guidance particularly with puzzle creation.

Preti has worked with youth charities and with refugees, and in conflict and post-conflict zones on minority and cultural rights. She now teaches writing in prisons and universities. She is the co-founder of the advocacy collective ERA Films and of Visual Verse, an online anthology of art and words. Her debut novel We That Are Young won the Desmond Elliot Prize 2018 and is published in the UK, India and USA and in numerous translations worldwide.

Arguably, Abbie has one of the best earth-based space sector jobs. As Lead Spacecraft Structures Engineer for the ExoMars Rover at Airbus, Abbie is in charge of making sure the rover will be ready for its mission to Mars in 2020 and that the body of the rover with be stiff and strong enough to withstand the forces of launch into space and landing on the Red Planet. In 2016, Abbie was elected youngest Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and she is a keen advocate for diversity within her profession.

Space communicator extraordinaire, Cindy is passionate about helping children discover how we can best take care of our home planet. Former CEO of the Cambridge Science Centre, Cindy has supported people from all sectors – from the UN to UK schools – in using science to foster a healthy, happy planet Earth. Cindy founded Planetari, an educational Makerzine aligned to the UNSDGS with the potential to reach 100 million children in 5 years.

A leading expert in Human Space Flight, when Libby isn’t working for the UK Space Agency, she’s writing fabulous books about the achievements of women in STEM. Libby was previously flight director at Mission Control and played an important role in Tim Peake’s Principia Mission.

Astronomer Sheila Kanani is the champion of our Universe, working for the Royal Astronomical Society as Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer. This means she helps students (at schools and universities) and communities learn all about the wonders of space and encouraging them to get involved. Sheila is the co-founder of STEMMsisters which supports people from communities which may not be able to access ‘STEMM’ subjects.

Stephen is Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the Open University. He loves studying the atmospheres of planets and his research has been used to help plan ESA and NASA missions and to understand the measurements that they have returned, including two missions in orbit around Mars now. He uses computer models to understand how planets’ atmospheres have changed over time.

With the enviable job title ‘Head of Space Exploration’ for the UK Space Agency, Sue works closely with international collaborators to ensure that all the scientific instruments and technology needed for future missions will be developed and available, so we can explore and study our Universe.

Imagine how exciting it would be to spend your working day studying how volcanoes behave. As Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford, that’s exactly what Tamsin does, researching volcanoes to better understand them as natural hazards, for their role in mineral and geothermal power resources and as a key planetary scale process throughout geological time.

Being a Space Operations Engineer at ESA means Vinita has a lot of variety at work. Some days, she’s busy developing astronaut training in Russia, other days she’s teaching astronauts how to use specialised parts of the ISS, like its new robotic arm. After hours, Vinita runs Rocket Women – a website inspiring girls to engage in STEM.