College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• Searching for the stars
  

  Stars have always been Steve Kawaler's passion.

  
  Not much has changed in Steve Kawaler's Zaffarano Physics Addition office since Around LAS last interviewed him.
  
  The office is just as cluttered as always. And the memories of his childhood - a childhood where he was inspired to become an astronomer - remain. The Golden Book of Astronomy is still strategically placed where all that enter can't miss it. Toy models from "that campy TV show" Lost in Space are placed prominently on a table near his desk.
  
  And Kawaler is just as inspired as he always has been by the stars.
  
  "Stars have been my passion," the professor of physics and astronomy said. "I think I like astronomy so much because we don't have all the answers yet but it's something that we can see everyday and each night. We see the stars and the sun - objects that we understand a great deal about, but in other ways are way beyond what we can understand."
  
  That passion has led the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society, to elect Kawaler a fellow of the association.
  
  "I can't say this was totally unexpected," he said. "I was forewarned to make sure my membership dues were current since you can't be a AAAS fellow unless you're paid up."
  
  Kawaler's membership dues had lapsed, but that's about the only thing he has let slide in his pursuit of astronomy. AAAS cited Kawaler's research, service and teaching.
  
  He's worked for 20 years to understand and model white dwarf stars. Since 1997, he's directed the Whole Earth Telescope (WET), a worldwide network of observations that takes uninterrupted measurements of stars.
  
  In his role as director of WET, Kawaler handles the administrative duties of the NSF-funded organization including archiving the data obtained by WET observations and coordinating at least one WET run each of the last 10 years.
  
  That's even though he doubts his administrative skills.
  
  "I'm a terrible administrator - just ask my WET colleagues," he said. "But I enjoy the scientific part."
  
  Kawaler has been active on the scientific side as well. He's an author on most of the papers gleaned from data collected by WET. He is currently working on a NASA Astrophysics Theory Program grant on the next generation of computer models of stars in particular sub dwarf B stars.
  
  "This is an exciting and potentially very important project," he said. "WET data has pointed out how bad the current models are."
  
  The AAAS also honored Kawaler for his classroom instruction. He's taught and developed courses such as "Astronomy Bizarre," a course for non-science students that explores the more bizarre objects and events in the universe.
  
  "I got into astronomy because it was fun," Kawaler said. "I grew up watching the moon launches and it was hugely exciting for me. I guess part of any field can get routine, but that hasn't happened to me yet.
  
  "Every other day I go in front of 100 or so students and try to fire them up about astronomy despite knowing that they are potentially excited about many other things. That keeps me excited and passionate about the subject."

Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4111. Published by: University Relations, online@iastate.edu. Copyright © 1995-2004, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved.

Non-Discrimination Statement and Information Disclosures

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Ames, Iowa 50011-1302

General Information: (515) 294-7740

Academic Advising: (515) 294-4831

Email: las@iastate.edu

Michael Whiteford - Dean

Bret Larwick - Director of Technology

Dave Gieseke - Director of Communications