Ian Griffin Ph.D.

I am head of the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute

Science Stuff

Dust & Radiative Transfer

Science is Fun!

In a former life I  studied dust (yes DUST!) around red giant stars.

 I even published some papers ....

'A model for the infrared and radio spectral energy distribution of IRC+10216

which is cited by these people

or the thrilling sequel

A model for the Circumstellar Envelope of WX Ser'

which these people found interesting

Science Stuff

Asteroids, Comets & Astrometry

Recently I have become interested in astrometry which is the science of measuring the positions of astronomical objects.

My work has helped find

28 new minor planets from Cocoa

and

20 new minor planets from Auckland

I have had the privilege of naming the following asteroids, all of which I discovered 

10924 Mariagriffin (named after my wife Maria!!!)

11678 Brevard (after Brevard County in Florida)

13376 Dunphy (in memory of my Father in law)

14179 Skinner (in memory of  Chris Skinner, an astronomer)

17020 Hopemeraengus (for my children Hope, Merope and Aengus)

19620 Auckland (named for the city where this asteroid was found)

23988 Maungakiekie (named for the Maori name for One Tree Hill)

23990 Springsteen (named after Bruce Springsteen!)

25273 Barrycarole (Named after my parents)

27120 

31239

31268

Publications

You can look at a complete list of my  science  publications here

or you can read my latest newspaper column here

I have also written and produced a large number of Planetarium shows and laser music shows.

One day I will put the scripts online here... 

Personal Stuff:

I also like rock & roll music (Bruce Springsteen mainly!)

 astronomy

and watching the X-files on TV

 I also like the music associated with any Gerry Anderson TV series, particularly Joe 90, Thunderbirds and Stingray. 

Groovy!

Of course one can not have lived in the US of A without developing a tremendous admiration for the acting abilities found on that side of the Atlantic ocean. For me, American thespian skill reached a climax in the wonderful, sublime and skillfully written series Hawaii Five-0. Without doubt, Jack Lord was one of the most underrated actors of all time.

I also really like playing pooh sticks

For Bruce information Click here. 

Alternatively, you might want to find out the latest 

about Bruce's new album from The Sony Website

I also like the music of The Alarm and Oasis

Previous work:

from 1999 to 2001 I was Chief Executive Officer  of the  

in Auckland   New Zealand

I was trained as an Astronomer 

at

  University College London  

from 1984-1990

then in 1990 I was appointed  Director of 

the Armagh Planetarium  

in Northern Ireland.  

in 1995 I became Director of the

Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory

in

  Florida

then I  moved to 

NEW ZEALAND  

and enjoyed the wonderful skies of the southern hemisphere

If you want to email me, press here