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What Are Astronomers Doing?
Rob Wittenmyer
"Star Trek got me into astronomy" 
Rob Wittenmyer in Antarctica.
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Since age five, Rob Wittenmyer has had a passion for astronomy. He says he can remember, as a young boy, watching Star Trek with his dad and being fascinated. “Star Trek is pretty much what got me into astronomy,” he says. When he was eight, his grandfather gave him his first telescope, and he has been observing the heavens ever since.
Rob grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and graduated from Green Hills High School in 1994. He attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Rob went to Williams for its astronomy department, which is known for its distinguished work on solar eclipses. Rob graduated with degrees in astronomy, biology and environmental science.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time"
After Williams, Rob moved to California to work on a teaching degree at Fresno Pacific University.
While he was there, he taught for SCICON, an outdoor school that promoted the principles of science and education for youth. He says he spent some of the best times of his life guiding teenagers through forest trails and teaching them about nature.
Before graduating from Fresno Pacific in 2000, he taught seventh grade for a year in Porterville, California. “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he says.
He decided to go back to school. He graduated Boston University in 2001 with a master's degree in biology, and then received a master's degree in astronomy from San Diego State University in 2003.
Antarctica
After graduating from San Diego State, Rob went to McMurdo Station in the Antarctic on the Coast Guard icebreaking ship 'Polar Star.' He worked for a year at the Antarctic Research Center there as a satellite data manager for ice-breaking ships. His job was to guide the ships using satellite data.
Finding a career
Being admitted to the UT astronomy program is one of his greatest accomplishments, he says. At UT, he tied his many interests together by considering planets that orbit other stars. In 2008, he went to Australia as a post-doctoral fellow in the Exoplanetary Science group, and was later awarded a rare Vice-Chancellor's Fellowship to continue his research.
Soccer
Rob says he loves to play soccer whenever he gets a free moment. In graduate school, every Wednesday, he and a team of fellow graduate students met to play and practice. On Monday, it was indoor league soccer; on Sunday, it was outdoor league.
Rob Wittenmyer
Post-doctoral Fellow, University of New South Wales, Australia
Ph.D., Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin
M.S., astronomy, San Diego State University
M.A., biology, Boston University
Teaching credentialed, Fresno State University
B.A., astronomy, Williams College
B.A., biology, Williams College
B.A., environment science, Williams College
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