TAEM- We recently had the pleasure of a guided tour of the telescope observatory at George Mason University by Dr. Harold A. Geller, the observatory’s director. We decided to learn a little more about him and were astonished about what we uncovered. Harold, please shed some light on your educational background and its long standing connection with George Mason University.

HG- The academic path to my doctorate was anything but straight.  After obtaining a bachelor’s degree, I returned to academia as a graduate student at George Mason University (GMU).  At that time, GMU was a medium sized liberal arts commuter-type college.  Not having a graduate degree program in my discipline interest, I designed my own program through the university’s master’s program in interdisciplinary studies.  I completed my master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in astronomy and informatics.  As I was working for a university consortium, I naturally maintained ties in higher education.  I applied for and received a Commonwealth Fellowship from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.  I initially sought to complete a PhD in Physical Sciences.  Ultimately, I switched to the doctoral program in education.  I also taught at the Northern Virginia Community College, Manassas Campus, for 4 years while I continued to work toward my doctorate in education.  Ultimately, I was offered a full time position at George Mason University, and chose to enter academia on a full-time basis.  I had been a part-time instructor in physics and astronomy for seven years prior to joining GMU as a full-time faculty member. (more…)

This past month The Arts and Entertainment Magazine attended the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) held at George Mason University, in Fairfax Virginia. The event displayed some of the many telescopes that club members own as well as ‘lender scopes’ that are available for use. In attendance were visitors from a nearby Northern Virginia Planetarium, and a Geophysics expert, Dr. Linda Schaffner, whom we’d like to introduce in future issues.

NOVAC-  Paul Derby is the president of the club and explained to us that membership tops 1,100 people, making it the largest club of its type in the world. The membership includes teachers, students, astronauts, and professional observers as well as armatures. The club also sets up at sites in Northern Virginia to view the night skies. These ‘star parties’ are very popular and many of the members are on hand to demonstrate the telescopes and explain the universe to the viewers that attend. (more…)

TAEM-  We recently toured George Mason University in Northern Virginia and was graciously guided by Harold Geller who is the Associate Dean and Director of the Telescope Observatory there. Dean Geller has introduced Professor Michael Summers to us to shed some light on the great work that the University does.

 Professor Summers is a planetary scientist who specializes in the study of structure and evolution of planetary atmospheres. Professor, please tell our readers about the subject of your work.

MS- My research concerns the chemistry and dynamics of planetary atmospheres.  I’m particularly interested in how planetary atmospheres develop, evolve over time, and in the case of the Earth how humans impact the atmosphere. I’ve had the good fortune to work with several robotic space missions in my career, including the Pluto New Horizons mission which is now on it’s way to a 2015 encounter with Pluto and its system of moons.  I’ve also worked on the possibly of using atmospheric trace gases as biomarkers of life. On Mars there is evidence of methane in the atmosphere, which could provide indirect evidence of life below its surface. That would be quite an astounding discovery. I’m also working with several of my students on the structure of atmospheres around a small group of recently discovered extra-solar planets. (more…)