Dr. Mariya Lyubenova > Communications at ESO

Head of Media Relations

The main communication activities of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) are concentrated in the Department of Communication in the Office of the Director General. The Media Relations Team, which I lead, is part of this department. The team consists of science communicators, writers, visual artists, video and image processing specialists and social media experts. We are responsible for the preparation of press releases, announcements, video casts, social media campaigns, the ESO blog, exhibitions in the ESO Member States, media visits to the ESO Headquarters, and the information provided on ESO's public website. Our goal is to bring to the attention of the media, educators, decision-makers, local communities, and the public in general the most important scientific and technological achievements of the astronomers users' community of ESO and its 16 member states.

Apart of managing the work of my team, I am also the science advisor of the department and the editor of ESO's quarterly journal The Messenger. The Messenger serves as a link between ESO and its astronomical community. It provides information about scientific, technical and other developments connected with ESO. At the same time it aims to provide interesting news about astronomy and astrophysics to a broader public, including policy makers, government officials, and journalists, as well as to scientists from different fields.

Additionally, I am the coordinator of the ESO Science Outreach Network (ESON), which has representatives in 25 countries world-wide. Finally, I totally enjoy being an amateur astronomer with an 8-m telescope for the sake of ESO's Cosmic Gems project.