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University of Wyoming

UW Physics & Astronomy News Stories


March, 2007 - Prof. Jinke Tang to join Physics & Astronomy faculty The UW Department of Physics & Astronomy has hired Prof. Jinke Tang, currently at New Orleans University as part of its plan to grow in the area of materials science and energy-related physics. Prof. Tang specializes in condensed matter physics and will join the UW faculty in Fall 2007.
February, 2007 - Assistant Prof. Mike Brotherton recognized for research The UW College of Arts & Sciences has recognized Assistant Prof. Mike Brotherton with an Extraordinary Merit in Research award. Mike has published numerous papers and received large multi-year grants from NASA and the National Science Foundation in support of his research on active galaxies, quasars, and black holes.
June, 2006 - Graduate student Carolynn Moore awarded Graduate School fellowship The UW Graduate School has awarded a $30,000 National Science Foundation GK12 fellowship to Physics & Astronomy graduate student Carolynn Moore. Carolynn will spend the next year working with Laramie area science teachers to develop science lessons and curriculum for middle-school classrooms.
May, 2006 - Prof Danny Dale Wins Ellbogen Teaching Award Physics & Astronomy Associate Prof. Danny Dale was one of 6 UW faculty to win the John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award for 2006. See previous Ellbogen award winners.
April, 2006 - Graduate Student wins 3-year NASA Fellowship Physics & Astronomy graduate student Brian Uzpen was awarded a 3-year Graduate Student Researchers Program fellowship from NASA to support his PhD dissertation. Brian will use data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to search for nearby stars with excess infrared emission, a possible signpost of planet formation around these stars.
June, 2006 - Graduate student Chris Rodgers awarded Wyoming NASA Space Grant graduate fellowship Physics & Astronomy graduate student Chris Rodgers has been awarded a Wyoming NASA Space Grant graduate fellowship in support of his PhD dissertation studying the star formation histories of dwarf galaxies near the Milky Way.
WIRO Images featured on popular "Astronomy Picture of the Day" website

Images from astronomers using the University of Wyoming's InfraRed Observatory (WIRO) have been frequently featured on the internet's most popular Astronomy picture website, Astronomy Picture of the Day.


[April 1, 2005] - Dr. Ed Koncel wins "Arts & Sciences Top Teacher Award" for second consecutive year


[March 15, 2005] - Graduate Student Cassandra Paul wins Elbogen Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award


[January 10, 2005] - Prof. Paul Johnson wins multi-year grant to develop detection mechanisms for pathogenic organisms


[January 10, 2005] - Prof. Mike Brotherton wins 5-year $620,000 NASA award to study quasars

UW Professor Mike Brotherton and research associate Zhaohui Shang won two major awards from the National Aeronautics & Space Administration totaling $800,000 to understand the formation and evolution of nature's most energetic and enigmatic objects: quasars. Quasars are extremely luminous galaxies which harbor black holes at their centers. They are so luminous that they can be seen all the way across the known universe, and they serves as probes of the conditions that existed in the universe some 12 billion years ago when the universe was much younger. The discovery was also featured in a Casper Star Tribune story .


[October 12, 2004] - UW Astronomers Discover New Milky Way Star Cluster

UW graduate student Andy Monson and UW Professor Chip Kobulnicky led the discovery of a new 'globular' star cluster using UW's Wyoming InfraRed Observatory and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Read the UW Press Office Story or the news release from the Spitzer Science Center news office. The discovery was also featured in a Casper Star Tribune story and by an article in Sky & Telescope.


[July 13, 2004] - UW Astro Camp a Blast for Teens
For the second summer, teens from across Wyoming experienced the excitement of discovery, using telescopes and launching rockets at UW Astro Camp.. Astro Camp gives teens from the Wyoming Boys & Girls Clubs an opportunity to spend three days on a college campus, participating in hands on science activities. A seond Astro Camp provides Wyoming gifted and talaented students with an interest in science a 4-day science immersion. Read the UW News Service Story and the Laramie Boomerang article.


[June 20, 2004] - Prof. Mike Pierce and UW Astronomers to build one of the world's largest infrared cameras for WIRO Telescope
UW Astronomers, led by Professor Mike Pierce, have won over $1 million from the National Science Foundation to build an advanced infrared camera for the Wyoming InfraRed Observatory. The new instrument, once completed in 2006, will enable UW scientists to make surveys of distance galaxies and discoveries of new star clusters and star formation regions at unprecedented sensitivity.


[May , 2004] - Women in Science Day Changes Lives of Young Girls
The annual Wyoming Space Grant Women in Science Day drew 450 students from around Wyoming, exciting interest among girls about science careers. Read the Laramie Boomerang Story.


[May 20, 2004] - Dr. Ed Koncel wins Arts & Sciences Top Teacher Award
UW Physics & Astronomy instructor Dr. Ed Koncel was voted one of the top ten teachers in the College of Arts & Sciences by the graduating class of 2004. Dr. Koncel, who regularly teaches the algebra-based Physics 1110 & 1120 classes for pre-med majors, was one of only two science teachers to received this honor.


[May 19, 2004] - Physics & Astronomy Professor Danny Dale wins prestigious National Science Foundation "Career Award".

Physics & Astronomy Professor Danny Dale was selected as one of only 6 astronomers in the U.S. to receive a 5-year "Career" grant from the National Science Foundation. Professor Dale will be using UW's Wyoming InfraRed Observatory and other national telescopes to study the history of star formation in the universe. By looking at extremely distance galaxies, Dale and his team can look back in time to glimpse galaxies during their formation as much as 8 billion years ago. Read the UW News Office press release.


[May 15, 2004] - Professors Yuri Dahnovsky wins $500,000 grant to advance biophysics
UW Physics professor Yuri Dahnovsky has won a 3-year grant from the National Science Foundation to study the properties of biomaterials.


[March 3, 2003] - UW Astronomers Win NASA Telescope Time

UW Astronomers Professor Danny Dale and Professor Chip Kobulnicky have won large amounts of observing time on NASA's newest orbiting facility, the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Spitzer telescope carries the most sensitive infrared cameras and spectrographs ever launched. Kobulnicky and Dale are collaborating with international teams of astronomers who will use the new capabilities to discover hidden star formation regions within our own Milky Way Galaxy and unravel the mysteries of galaxy formation in the distant universe. Read the UW Press Office news release.