Life After Grad School Seminar | Atypical Adventures in Astrophysics: Airplanes, Airports, and a School

Deano Smith completed his Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Michigan in 2000, studying dark matter distributions with Professor Gary Bernstein. His dissertation, “Determining Field Galaxy Halo Masses Via the Weak Gravitational Lensing Effect,” was based upon observations made using the BTC, or “Big Throughput Camera,” that he worked on developing, testing, and putting into service as part of his graduate program. The camera, which was the largest high-throughput astronomical camera at the time, was used on the 4-meter Victor Blanco Telescope at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, so he got some travel time and was able to enjoy the southern skies rather extensively. He was fortunate in the breadth of his astronomy experience, having also worked with Joel Bregman and Mario Mateo on different research projects, and having received advice, tutelage, and fun times at conferences with numerous faculty including Fred Adams, Pat Seitzer, and Gus Evrard. Since departing U of M with a two-body-academic problem, he has taught high school science, taught people to fly airplanes, operated a small airport, and held a tenure-track Research Scientist position in the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories. He has now returned to teaching high school science at Greenhills School in Ann Arbor.