Rami T. F. Rekola:

Dr Rami Rekola, PhD, FRAS, is the founder and director of Astromatkat. He graduated from the remarkable senior secondary school of Meri-Pori, enrolled to study physics in the University of Turku, and graduated in 2007 as a doctor of philosophy with a prize-winning thesis "Distance Determinations to Nearby Galaxies".

He worked in Tuorla Observatory, the internationally renowned astronomy unit of the University of Turku for 18 years. He designed a presentation that was given to visiting groups, took over a hundred groups around the observatory and explained how it became the most important centre of astronomy in Finland and what kind of science is done there. He was instrumental in launching a bold project to build a visitor centre for the observatory and founding Tuorla Planetarium.

Dr Rekola founded an education and public outreach company, Astromatkat (Astro Tours) in 2011 and concentrated his efforts in education consulting, teaching, public outreach, and research services. From 2012 to 2018 he served as the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Science Outreach Network representative for Finland.

A major change in his life took place in 2013 when he got married with an American woman and moved to the United States of America. In the USA, he worked some time at the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i and was appointed as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Dr Rekola returned to Finland with his family in 2019.

As a professional astronomer Dr Rekola is a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Finnish Astronomical Society and the Tuorlan Astronomical Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS).