Duane Hamacher is Associate Professor of Cultural Astronomy in the ASTRO-3D Centre of Excellence and the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne. A former ARC Discovery Early Career Research Fellow, he has worked for Meriam Elders since 2014 to document the astronomical knowledge and traditions of the eastern Torres Strait Islanders, and with other First Nations communities across Australia and internationally.

Born and raised in the United States, Duane earned a Bachelors degree in physics from the University of Missouri, a Masters degree in observational astronomy from the University of New South Wales with a thesis on extrasolar planets, and a PhD in Indigenous Studies from Macquarie University with a dissertation on Australian Aboriginal astronomy. Duane served as an expert consultant for UNESCO, was the consultant for the Star Dreaming series of commemorative coins for the Royal Australian Mint, and serves on the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Star Names, which officiated 7 Aboriginal star names into the global scientific canon, as well as lobbying for 5 asteroids to be named by the IAU in honour of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders, academics, and a community.