Karlie Noon, a Kamilaroi woman from Tamworth, is set to become the first indigenous graduate in New South Wales to obtain a double degree in science and maths.

“It’s hard to describe the impact finishing university has had back home. It has helped shift perceptions and raised the expectations for the people around me.” Ms Noon said.

And she is keen to push her academic pursuits even further into orbit, with her heart set on getting a doctorate.

“It’s really important to me to have indigenous knowledge recognised and to encourage more indigenous representation in mainstream positions,” she said.

Ms Noon had previously known astronomy from a cultural perspective and said “there are a lot of similarities between indigenous knowledge and physics”, which she plans to investigate in a Masters or Honours program in 2017. She will graduate from the University of Newcastle at the end of next week.