Where science and tech meet creativity.

It’s been a while since I last blogged. I have to admit that I’ve missed it, but the past few months have been a bit busy. Things are finally starting to reach the point where I can begin to reveal some of what’s going on.

About a year ago I went to the UK for the first time and along with attending an AAVSO meeting, I also spend a couple days at Oxford, where I was hosted by Galaxy Zoo PI Chris Lintott. We got to talking, got to brainstorming, and came up with some ideas to add new features to the Galaxy Zoo website. (See here for some hints of what’s to come). He came and visited me at SIUE a few months later, we wrote some grants, we then got some grants (w00t), and now I find my life delightfully consumed not only by the International Year of Astronomy (which you likely knew), but also by Galaxy Zoo. I can’t wait to reveal things to you over the next few months.

Between IYA and Galaxy Zoo, the past few months have become a tangle of teaching, travel, programming, and working on research papers. Four months in, my dogs now know what suitcases mean, my office is a mass of paper (in some places centimeters deep), and life is good.

In the following months, here are things you can expect:

  • April 3-4 MARAC: Live near Kansas City? Come hear me give a talk at the Mid-America Regional Astrophysics Conference
  • April 18-19 NEAF: I’ll be talking at the NorthEast Astronomy Forum , but the real reason I’ll be there is to steal views through the diversity of scopes guaranteed to be in attendance.
  • May 18-21 AAVSO: This years AAVSO spring meeting is being held jointly with the Society for Astronomical Sciences at Big Bear Lake, CA. It is a beautiful location and the workshops look as good as the scenery.
  • June 7-11 AAS: We’ll be revealing a bit of what is to come with Galaxy Zoo and talking a lot about New Media and Citizen Science. Come and see?
  • July 2-5 CONvergence(here I admit I need to follow up more with organizers): Mostly I’m going to have fun 🙂
  • July 16-24 Eclipse of the Century Cruise: I’ve never seen a full eclipse, and I’m really looking forward to the many minute totality.
  • August IAU: The last time IAU held a General Assembly Pluto was stripped of its position as a planet. What ever madness ensues this time, I’ll be there to take it in.

And here I stop, because at this point I just can’t think beyond IAU. Life is good. It’s just busy.

This week I’m down in Houston for the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference. More on that in its own post in just a couple minutes.