Dec 9, 2009 - Looking at Cold Stuff - Dr. Gerald Schieven

Dec 9, 2009 - Looking at Cold Stuff: Sub-millimetre-wave Astronomy - Dr. Gerald H. M. Schieven, Senior Research Officer, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics

Bridging the (substantial) gap between infrared and radio waves, sub-millimetre-wave astronomy is a relatively new field, having begun in earnest barely twenty years ago.  But why do we bother, and why is Canada participating in the construction of the world's largest (and most expensive) astronomical project, i.e. ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array?  I'll try to explain some of this, and how Canada got to be a leader in this field.

Bio: Native of a small town in Ontario (Mt. Forest, long before Starfest began, alas), I attended University of Western Ontario (London, ON; BSc 1981), Queen's University (Kingston, ON; MS 1983), and University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA; PhD 1988).  I was a post-doc and faculty member at Queen's (1988-1990), a post-doc at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (Pasadena, CA; 1990-1992), research officer at Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (Penticton BC; 1992-1995), support scientist at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii (1995-2008).  I'm now a senior research officer at the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, where I'm the group leader of the Millimetre Astronomy Group, and Canadian Project Manager of ALMA.  My research interests have included star and planet formation, planetary atmospheres, gamma ray bursters, etc.  I've been a member of the RASC since 1975, and a life member since 1979.