Jenny Shipway

Winchester, United Kingdom

About me

I have managed the planetarium at Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium, UK since its opening in 2008 under its previous trading name of INTECH. The 17m digital planetarium now attracts approximately 100,000 visitors per year for live shows and fulldome films, with about 75% uptake from visitors despite an additional charge. About 25% of the audience is schools. I am Past President of the British Association of Planetarium and former IPS rep for UK and Ireland (since Sept 2014). I led the Cell! Cell! Cell! fulldome film project and was involved in script editing. I contributed significant scripting for We are Stars, and have given scripting consultancy for Back to the Moon: For Good and another film tba. I led rescripting/re-recording voice tracks for UK versions of The Life of Trees, and was a consortium member for the We are Astronomers fulldome film project. I am interested in using the dome environment in new ways and for topics beyond astronomy, although my favourite show is still our live star show which has the simplest visuals of all. Quality is key - we use only highly trained presenters and only show films that can match the quality of the rest of our offer. Background: after completing a biochemistry PhD, I worked as a protein biochemist at the Scripps Institute, California. I then moved back to the UK to work at the At-Bristol Science Centre and Explorer Dome mobile planetarium while gaining a Science Communication MSc. After this I moved to coordinate/deliver the Hands-on Maths Roadshow from the University of Cambridge before taking up my current role in Winchester.

My Organizations

My Shows

Events I’ve been at

My News & Articles