Dr Kirsten Banks said it was a school visit to Sydney’s IMAX theatre for a documentary on the Hubble Space Telescope that set her on her future career trajectory.

The astrophysicist and science communicator graduated from Davidson High School in 2014.

“I was absolutely enthralled by how much information we can learn from distant objects just by looking at their light. From that moment I wanted to study the universe and be an astrophysicist,” she said.

Fortunately for Dr Banks, the lessons provided by former Davidson High science teacher Alan Ferris nurtured her passion for learning and physics.

“(Mr Ferris) went further than just the syllabus and the textbook. He was very practical and hands on with showing us how physics worked,” she said.

“He once got students to push each other around in a wheeled office chair to explain the forces of friction.

“Those sorts of practical examples let us see physics in the real world and really helped me conceptualise physics and understand it at a more intuitive level.”

Mr Ferris had a colourful journey to teaching. From farming in England, to auctioneering in Australia, he was encouraged to try teaching by his wife, the then principal at Pittwater High School.

He said his wife knew he would be a good teacher, and he was drawn to physics as it was fundamental for understanding the world around us.

“Everything we do is based on physics, from the very largest to the very smallest things in the universe,” he said.

Mr Ferris, now retired, remembers Dr Banks as an extremely well organised student, and one of the first to effectively use an iPad in her learning.

“She was always forward thinking, and knew exactly what she needed to do next,” he said.

After graduating from Davidson High, Dr Banks studied two types of red giant star to understand more about the history of the galaxy on her way to completing a PhD in astrophysics.

“I found the very slight differences between two different types of red giant stars can help us distinguish them really effectively,” she said.

“Some are useful to map the galaxy and then work out its history, and as they are like a cosmic streetlight, we can use their apparent brightness to work out their very precise locations.”

Like the cosmic streetlights Dr Banks found in the red giants, she believes the impact of a great teacher like Mr Ferris is crucial to a student’s future direction.

“Having a really nurturing and influential teacher makes a big difference on what direction a student will take,” she said.

Fun fact: one of the Snowy 2.0 boring machines is named after Dr Banks.