Contents Who am I? My background and current professional activities Where am I? My weekly schedule What are my interests? Science education & outreach, critical thinking, star forming galaxies What do I teach? Astronomy undergraduate courses I welcome all e-mail:

• Lecturer, Dept of Physics & Astronomy, WSU
• Volunteer, Project ASTRO
  • Local site is Project ASTRO Appaloosa
  • Organized by The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
  • Funded by NASA's Space Interferometry Mission
• Assistant Editor, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
  • The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
  • The Journal
• My education:
  • PhD Astronomy 1999, University of Toronto
  • MSc Astronomy 1993, University of Toronto
  • BSc Honours Physics, 1992, McMaster University
• Work experience:
  • Research associate with Prof E.R. Seaquist, Univ of Toronto
  • Director, Education & Public Outreach, Dunlap Observatory
  • Lecturer, Dept of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Univ of Toronto

At the grade 4-9 level, I volunteer with the Inland Northwest, or "Appaloosa" region, for Project ASTRO, which partners teachers with Earth & space scientists, and brings scientists into the classroom.

At the undergraduate level, I am interested in teaching students critical thinking (CT) skills. With the help of WSU's Critical Thinking Project I have developed a series of CT-themed lab exercises. These exercises are available from me by request.

Currently I am developing a set of assessment tools to determine the efficacy of these exercises.

Starbursts: a radio image of Messier 82

My astrophysical research is currently of secondary importance. It pursues the closely related phenomena of starburst galaxies, and nearby active galaxies. "Active" means that the light they produce cannot be explained by stars (and star-like processes) alone. By contrast, starburst galaxies are called "normal" galaxies.

The picture shown above (click on it for a close-up) is of the galaxy M82. The galaxy appears to be forming stars, very rapidly and efficiently, hence the name "starburst". Star formation tends to occur deep within dust clouds, where optical light cannot escape. We turn to radio light to search for the effects that new stars can have on a dust cloud. In the picture, we are looking at the expanding gas shells that are the result of supernova explosions. This picture was composed using data collected at the Very Large Array in Socorro, New Mexico.

• Click here to obtain a copy of my PhD thesis, "Radio Continuum Studies of the Evolved Starburst in M82"

• ASTR 135 - Descriptive Astronomy - night sky, light waves, stars, galaxies, and the universe
• ASTR 138 - Planets and Planetary Systems - non-mathematical survey of our solar system and other systems
• ASTR 150 - Science and the Universe - non-mathematical history of universe models and the scientific method from ancient times to the 18th century
• PHYS 188 - Freshman Seminar - one-credit introduction to physics research faculty
• PHYS 303 - Modern Physics I - calculus-based introduction to special relativity and quantum mechanics from the first half of the 20th century
• PHYS 320 - Classical Mechanics - calculus-based treatment of objects in motion
• ASTR 345 - Principles of Astronomy - entry course for the astro specialist program
• ASTR 450 - Life in the Universe - non-mathematical, senior-level, interdisciplinary look at the biological properties of our universe

Material contained in the domain astro.wsu.edu/allen/ copyright © 1995-2004 by Michael L. Allen.