Geoffrey Burks has the slashed title of Astronomer/Educator
in the Center for Information Systems. He is working to become
a user-friendly astronomer, and wants to act as a conduit
for information between the education side and the astronomy
side of the center and the center's Explorers of the Universe
Project. He was born in Tennessee, but went to Chicago after
high school. He received a B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. at the University
of Chicago. His graduate school research had to do with the
gas and dust between stars, called the interstellar medium.
He also studied the outskirts of our galaxy. He did post-doctoral
research at the University of Colorado, where he felt the
pull toward teaching. He has held teaching positions at Albuquerque
T-VI and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
He is presently interested in variable stars, the Galactic
Halo, and the intergalactic medium (the gas between galaxies),
on the astronomy side. He is looking for better and more effective
ways to teach astronomy, on the education side. There is never
a dull moment and so much to learn.
His spouse is Christine Mather. She is presently finishing
a Ph.D. in Theater that she started at LSU.
