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What Are Astronomers Doing?
Verne Smith
"A question of " 
Verne Smith and his wife (Dr. Katia Cunha) relax at a party.
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Verne Smith is nearly certain that life exists in places other than on Earth. In fact, he is fairly sure that life will turn up in our own solar system, perhaps on the planet Mars or Jupiter's moon Europa. "I have almost no doubts that there is life elsewhere in the universe," he says, "and I would give it a 75% chance that there is life elsewhere in the solar system." The kinds of life Verne is referring to is simple, single-celled life such as bacteria. As for intelligent life, he thinks it exists but is a little farther from home. "If I had to bet, I would guess that the nearest planet with intelligent beings is probably pretty far away," he muses. "But we live in a big galaxy in a really big universe, so they are almost certainly out there…it is just a question of ‘how many?'"
"I was fascinated by the big numbers."
Verne is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Texas at El Paso, and a Research Fellow at McDonald Observatory. Fascination with science, especially astronomy and paleontology, have been longstanding themes in his life. "I drifted into astronomy at about age seven," he recalls, "I think because I was fascinated by the big numbers." As a child, he lived with his family on a small farm in Iowa, where he has "very early memories of being impressed by the northern lights at an age that is too young to remember. I was interested in science long before I started school."
"Excellent science mentors"
Once he did start school, Verne's teachers were also very encouraging to him. His first grade teacher, Mrs. Brown, was able to individually tutor him and the two other students. Later, in high school, he was inspired by his chemistry teachers, Mr. Little and Mr. Shmoeker, and his physics teacher, Mr. Freeman. "They were all really excellent science mentors and pushed me, especially in doing careful experiments," he says. The work they did was "very much at a university level." Thanks to these wonderful instructors, Verne says he had a great start when he got to college.
"Just plain fun."
Now that he's a professional astronomer, Verne says he sees his work as "just plain fun." "Basically, the way I see it," he says, "I get paid money to have fun." When he's observing at the telescope, he likes to listen to the radio. Rather than bringing his own music, he finds that "it's nice at 3:00 am to hear a ‘live' human voice." His wife, Katia, is also an astronomer, and they work together often. The couple have a daughter, Mariana, and a son, Nicholas, and they travel as a family quite a bit. When he's not working on astronomy, Verne likes to read about history, biographies, or science, or watch old movies, including mysteries, comedies, westerns, and science fiction films.
Verne V. Smith
Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at El Paso
Research Fellow, McDonald Observatory
Deputy Director, NOAO Gemini Science Center (Tucson)
Ph.D., Astronomy; University of Washington
M.S., Physics; University of Iowa
B.A., Physics and Astronomy; University of Iowa
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