Life After Grad School Seminar |
Science Communication as a Career Path

José Francisco Salgado is an astronomer (BS in Physics, Univ. of Puerto Rico; PhD in Astronomy, Univ. of Michigan), experimental photographer, visual artist, and public speaker who uses the arts to communicate science in engaging ways. He graduated from U-M with his mind set on Education and Public Outreach. During his tenure at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, he worked in the development of web resources, Spanish-language programming, scientific visualization, exhibit galleries, and stereoscopic (3D) shows. He also co-developed and hosted an astronomy news section on TV (Univision Chicago, WGBO) for which he received an Emmy nomination.

Nowadays, he serves as the Executive Director of KV 265, a non-profit science and arts education organization he co-founded in 2010. Through KV 265, Dr. Salgado collaborates with orchestras, composers, and musicians to produce and present multimedia works that provoke curiosity and a sense of wonder about the Earth and the Universe.

As an experimental photographer, Salgado has visited more than 30 scientific sites around the world and has contributed visuals to documentaries produced for the History, Discovery, BBC, and National Geographic channels. As a public speaker, he has given presentations about science and art in all seven continents, including a presentation at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Leveraging his skills as a photographer, he leads tours to Northern Canada to view and photograph the aurora borealis.

Dr. Salgado will speak about his career path and how he ended up combining the disciplines that have fascinated him from an early age: astronomy, music, and photography; all with the simple and personal mission of inspiring people to learn more.