What is your position at the University of Delaware, and what does it entail?
I’m a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. I teach courses, supervise graduate students, and do (primarily experimental) research relating to the measurement of charged particles in interplanetary space.
How long have you been at UD?
Since 1983
What do you like most about your job?
Designing and building equipment (with the participation of students and technical staff).
What do you like least about your job?
Writing reports and other documents that nobody ever really reads.
What's the most exciting thing that's happened to you on the job?
When the equipment actually works for the first time and shows something really new.
What is your role in IceTop, and why is this research important?
Originally it was working on the design and deployment of the detectors. Now, it is mostly trying to interpret the data related to solar activity. This research is important because it satisfies the human desire to know what is going on in the universe. Understanding solar activity is also important to working out details of global climate change.
What do you like most about going to the South Pole?
For the first time, just seeing it. On subsequent trips the value of the science is about the only thing.
What do you like least about going to the South Pole?
Mostly the absence of family and familiar surroundings.
How do you fill your free time at the South Pole?
I try to have as little free time as possible, because there really is very little to do apart from work. Otherwise I tend to read (typically via the Internet) or watch operas that I bring on DVD.
What's your favorite hobby? TV Show?
Working around the house --remodeling type projects and landscaping. My favorite TV shows are Lehrer-McNeil News Hour; This Old House; Nova.
What other interesting places have you visited as part of your work?
Actually, I have been on all the continents and most of the major islands. Most places are very interesting, particularly if one thinks about how they got to be the way they are, both with respect to natural and human history. Even Newark, Delaware (where UD is located), is interesting if approached that way.
What tip would you give to others interested in pursuing your career?
Be sure first of all that it is something you really like and are good at. Then at least you can hope to do something new and interesting, rather than struggling just to be ordinary.
