My job requires that I wear a number of different hats. A major fraction of my time is
spent co-operating (with Louis Allamandola) the Astrochemistry Laboratory in the
Astrophysics Branch at
NASA/Ames. Our lab contains 5 experimental set ups that can
simulate the conditions present on many of the planets, on comets, and in interstellar
space. Each set up is capable of reproducing the extremely high vacuums and low
temperatures found in many locations in space. We use this equipment to make 'analogs' of
the materials we think are in space so we can study them, especially using the techniques
of spectroscopy. The results we obtain can then be compared to information obtained from
telescopes and used to identify what materials are 'out there.'
Not surprisingly, I also spend an appreciable fraction of my time obtaining and
analyzing telescopic data using both ground-based (Mt. Lemmon, UKIRT, IRTF) and airborne
(KAO) observatories. These data are then compared to our laboratory results. Some of this
work I do on my own and some I do with other scientists.
At the moment I am also spending a lot of my time serving as a 'Co-Investigator' on
several potential space missions. One is called STARDUST and it is a mission to fly a
spacecraft to a comet named Wild-2. STARDUST will collect some of the dust that surrounds
the comet and return it to Earth so scientists can study it here. The mission won't start
until the year 1999 and it won't return to Earth until the year 2006. Thus, it's possible
that by the time STARDUST returns some of the students who read about this may be
scientists helping to study the dust!
There are lots of good things about my job. I get to do a large variety of interesting
things that change from day to day, so I never get bored. My job also takes me to lots of
interesting places and I get to meet and work with people from all around the world. One
of the best things about my job is that I get to discover entirely new things. It's a
great feeling to discover something and realize that you now know something that nobody
it the world ever knew before!
Probably the worst thing about my job is that because I work for NASA as a civil
servant, my job often involves a lot of bureaucratic paperwork. That part is no fun at
all!
Finally, my work occasionally takes me to strange places. I've been to Antarctica
twice as a member of expeditions that go there to search for meteorites. Both times I
made it all the way to the South Pole and I've helped find many hundreds of meteorites.
Several of the meteorites turned out to be quite special; one was from the Moon and one
was from Mars!
I grew up in the New Mexico desert where we had 2 horses, 2 mules, a dog, and a cat
(also rattlesnakes, tarantulas, scorpions, etc.). In the town I grew up in Los Alamos,
New Mexico, I was always surrounded by scientists. I knew that they really liked their
jobs and the things they did sounded pretty cool, so I decided very early on I wanted to
be a scientist too. Astronomy wasn't the only part of science I liked, but it was one of
my favorites. When I was younger I did a number of things that ultimately helped me
prepare for a career in astronomy, although at the time I didn't do them as part of a
conscious effort to become an astronomer. When I was about 10 I got a small 2" refracting
telescope and I used it to observe the Moon and stars. Later in Junior High I bought a
larger 6" reflecting telescope. I also did a lot of reading on my own and ultimately read
just about every book on astronomy that was in my local library. In High School I joined
the astronomy club and that was a good way to meet with other people interested in the
same things, participate in 'star parties,' etc. Finally, I was lucky enough to get a few
summer jobs that involved scientific research (although not in the field of astronomy). I
didn't do anything particularly complicated in my first jobs, but they helped teach me
about how science is really done (which is not very much like people see on television or
in the movies!).
I was fortunate enough to have a number of good teachers over the years who provided
inspiration and a good learning environment. I don't recall any of them specifically
encouraging me to become an astronomer, but I was fairly strongly self-motivated to
becoming a scientist and they were all very supportive. I was also very lucky in that I
had excellent scientific role models at my early part-time jobs. In particular, my Ph.D.,
thesis advisor was (and still is) a fantastic scientist and I learned a lot about the
process of scientific research from him. Of course, you never stop learning (after all,
that's what scientific research is!) and I am also fortunate that the scientists I
presently work with are all very good and we constantly teach each other new things as
well.
I'm married and I have a 4 1/2 month old son named Nathan. He's a blast! I like to
hike, camp, and cross country ski. I also play a lot of handball. I read lots of books,
especially science fiction. I've even published some of my own. Occasionally, when the
mood strikes me, I embroider big goofy pictures on the backs of my shirts. I like to
listen to music, especially rock'n'roll. For the past few years I've been learning to
read music and I now play the tenor and bass recorders. I like to play lots of different
kinds of games (board games, computer games, role-playing games, etc.), especially with
friends.