A quick biography: Robert Stencel is the William Herschel Womble Professor of Astronomy at Denver University. He became interested in Astronomy as a result of Sputnik, and was fortunate to have as a mentor during high school Ed Halbach, one of the founders of the Astronomical League. Following graduate study in astronomy at the University of Michigan, Dr. Stencel worked at NASA Houston and Greenbelt sites and NASA Headquarters in Washington DC, prior to joining Denver University in 1993 where he teaches astronomy and astrophysics. He is also the Director of the DU Observatories: Chamberlin and Mt.Evans. His scientific publications number in excess of 500 and can be found via website
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html with a search by name: stencel, r.Back A few credentials: Dr. Robert E. Stencel: William Herschel Womble Professor of Astronomy, Univeristy of Denver Director, Chamberlin and Mt.Evans Observatories Member, American Astronomical Society, International Astronomical Union Colorado Coordinator for the International Dark-sky Association Member, AAS committee on Light Pollution, Radio Interference and Space Debris Recipient 2002 Astronomical League's National Young Astronomer Award
Recipient 2017 of Dark Sky Association 'Dark Sky Defender' Award
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A few milestones:
1977 PhD Astronomy, U of Michigan, Ann Arbor
& Married Susan C. Conat
1983 Staff Scientist, NASA HQ & birth of daughter, Claire
1993 Named William Herschel Womble Professor of Astronomy, U of Denver
1997 First light, Mt. Evans Meyer-Womble Observatory
2001 Helped pass State of Colorado Light Pollution statute
& Named Patron Member of the Astronomical League
2002 Launch of the Student Telescope Network
2003 Installation of the Student Astronoomy Laboratory telescope on campus
2006 & 2015: First edition and second printing of Denver's Great Telescope book.
Some of his more significant publications include:
https://www.aavso.org/sites/default/files/jaavso/v40n2/618.pdf
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AJ....149..109S
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011AJ....142..174S
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1990ApJ...350L..45S
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1981MNRAS.196P..47S
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977ApJ...215..176S
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More biography:
Robert Stencel likes to brag about being born "near the center of the
northern half of the western hemisphere" at 45N, 90W (1950, near
Wausau, WI). His interest in astronomy and space science was kindled
with the flight of Sputnik (1957). He obtained his B.S. in Physics
at
the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1972, and his PhD in Astronomy
at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1977, where he met his wife
Susan.
His thesis concerned spectroscopy of evolved stars, under the direction of
Richard Teske and Richard Canfield. Typical of the times, he spent a long
time in postdoctoral jobs working with the International Ultraviolet
Explorer satellite, including National Research
Council appointments at NASA Johnson and NASA Goddard, JILA - U of
Colorado and a stint as a Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters. The
NASA HQ job featured starts for the Astro mission of Shuttle-based
telescopes, and the launch of the Astrophysics Theory Program. In
1985, he joined the U of Colorado Center for Astrophysics and Space
Astronomy as its first Executive Director, while also developing new
research interests in infrared astronomy.
In 1992 he accepted a faculty position at the University of Denver as the
first William Herschel Womble Professor of Astronomy. The bequest charged
him to pursue "educational astrophysics and to develop, equip and operate
a mountaintop observatory". Soon thereafter came the rehabilitation
of
Denver's historic Chamberlin Observatory (1894), the construction of the
new Meyer-Womble Observatory atop 14,268 ft elevation Mt.Evans in Colorado
(1997), and the outfitting of a new Student Astronomy Lab with rooftop
telescope on campus (2001). During the same interval, two thermal
infrared astronomical instruments were developed at Denver -- an
imager/polarimeter (TNTCAM) and spectrometer (TGIRS). In addition to
these activities, there always seemed to be time for experiments in
renewable energy sources for Mt.Evans observatory, archaeoastronomy,
and political activity to address light pollution problems in
Colorado. Other unfunded research and hobbies include the history of
Denver astronomy and works of James Joyce.
==Here are a few more typical student questions==
+How long have you been on this job? Since 1992.
+What gives you the most satisfaction in the work you are doing?
+What is your estimated population of people in this field?
There are about 5,000 professional astronomer members of the American Astronomical Society.
+What is your opinion about what my generation should do in this field?
Your generation will need to make that decision, but the universe beckons and will not be ignored....
