Brandon Lawton

Brandon is an education and outreach scientist in the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Brandon has researched and authored papers on the presence of organics in the universe, the interstellar medium, and star forming regions in nearby galaxies. Brandon's work with NASA's Universe of Learning Science Activation program puts him in direct contact with astrophysicists and STEM learning professionals from across NASA's astrophysics missions and centers. When not facilitating multiple projects for educators and life-long learners within NASA's Universe of Learning program, you may find Brandon giving talks and hands-on demos of STEM activities at outreach events across the country.

Education:

PhD in Astronomy, New Mexico State University
MS in Astronomy, New Mexico State University
BS in Physics and Astronomy, University of Washington

 

Science Interests:

• Studying organics and dust through cosmic time
• Studying the star formation in the Magellanic Clouds, and exploring their use as proxies for galaxies in the early universe
• Star formation indicators in galaxies
• Applying the NASA astrophysics Big Questions to outreach and learning projects (How did we get here? How does the universe work? Are we alone?)
• Exploring the use of emerging technologies in NASA outreach and learning programs

 

Research Topics: Star Formation, Histories, and Evolution; Local Group Galaxies; Galaxy Formation and Evolution; Interstellar Medium; Dust

 

Professional Websites:

Professional Website

NASA's Universe of Learning

Twitter handle: @Astro_BL

 

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5972-9555