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Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of British Columbia

Research at UBC

Astronomical and astrophysical research at UBC spans scales from the Solar System to the cosmological. Students, faculty members and other researchers use international telescope facilities such as the Canada-France-Hawaii and Gemini optical/IR telescopes, the James Clerk Maxwell submillimetre telescope, the Arecibo, Green Bank, Very Large Array and Parkes radio telescopes, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Telescope. We also have a strong focus on instrumentation, leading or playing important roles in such diverse experiments as the WMAP microwave background satellite, the BLAST balloon-borne submillimetre telescope, the MOST stellar oscillation telescope and large liquid-mirror projects. We are also planning for the future, involved in the Thirty Metre (optical/IR) Telescope, Square Kilometre Array radio telescope and planning for future X-ray satellite missions.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Researchers

Alphabetical list of Faculty in Astronomy & Astrophysics Research
NamePositionField Research Interests
Brett Gladman Professor Planetary Sciences Observational and theoretical planet formation and evolution.
Mark HalpernProfessor Cosmology Experimental cosmology.
Jeremy S. Heyl Associate Professor Astronomy/Theoretical Physics High-Energy Astrophysics of Compact Objects, Cosmology, Strong-field QED
Paul Hickson Professor, Graduate Chair Astrophysics Observational extragalactic astronomy, instrumentation
Jaymie Matthews Professor Stellar astrophysics Stellar astrophysics, stellar pulsation and asteroseismology
Harvey Richer Professor Astronomy Stellar populations, star clusters white dwarfs
Douglas Scott Professor Cosmology Structure formation, Cosmic Microwave Background, Early Universe, Sub-mm Observations
Kris Sigurdson Assistant Professor Astroparticle Physics/Cosmology Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology
Ingrid Stairs Associate Professor Radio Astronomy Radio Pulsars, searches and long-term timing
Ludovic Van Waerbeke Associate Professor Cosmology Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Strucrure Formation and Cosmology

OTHER FACULTY

Philip Gregory Professor Emeritus Astronomy Bayesian Statistics applied to extrasolar planets, high energy astrophysics and non linear model fitting.
William H. McCutcheon Professor Emeritus Radio Astronomy Galactic radio astronomy
Takamasa Momose Associate Member Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (AMO) /Astronomy & Astrophysics Laser Spectroscopy/Astrochemistry of cold molecules, low temperature molecular physics and chemistry
Jasper Wall Adjunct Professor Observational Cosmology Origin and Evolution of Galaxies, Active Galactic Nuclei, Unified Models, Statistics in Astronomy

Press releases and news from our group

2009