About myself…

I am a professor in the Department of Physics at Central Michigan University. My principal field of research is the study of electret polymers, i.e. plastics that contain oriented dipoles or excess space charge. These materials have applications as pressure and temperature sensors, actuators, and energy harversters.

My other interest is astrophotography, with emphasis on large wide-angle panorama images and time-lapse photography. My All-Sky Panoramas have been featured on NASA's "Astronomy Picture of the Day" web site and used for illustrating the first discoveries of gravitational waves. A color photographic star atlas based on the latest panorama has been published in English and German.

Image credit: Steven Jessmore/CMU