Honey, Should We Meet the Neighbors?

Dan Watson

Dan is an experimental/observational astrophysicist whose research has included work on star and planetary-system formation, the structure and evolution of spiral galaxies, the nature and formation of active galactic nuclei, and the development of instruments and infrared detector arrays for astronomy. Currently he is busy with analysis and ground-based follow-up of surveys made with the ESA Herschel Space Observatory, specifically the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey; and with the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, for which he is an Infrared Spectrograph instrument co-investigator and science team member, and leader of several large guaranteed-time and general observing programs on the evolution of protostars and protoplanetary disks.

He serves as Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and Chair of his department, at the University of Rochester. Along with his research, research-student mentorship, public outreach, and administrative activities, he has taught a wide variety of courses in physics and astronomy, one of which is “Astronomy 106: the cosmic origins of life”.

Dan received his doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley and did his postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology.