ENHS Nature Trails October 2000 Article 1

This month's speaker: Dr. Greg Bothun

Greg Bothun has been at the University of Oregon since 1990 where he is now a professor of Physics. His Ph.D. was earned at the University of Washington in 1981. His field of specialization is listed in the faculty guide as Observational Astrophysics. (I take this to mean that, in contrast to theoretical astrophysics, Greg tilts more towards natural history than mathematics. dhw) His particular research interests are the properties of galaxies and large scale structure.

One of Greg's most prominent responsibilities is Director of the Pine Mountain Observatory. Here he has shown his interest in public involvement in research by encouraging a very strong cadre of supporters and amateur astronomers known as Friends of Pine Mountain Observatory. You can learn about one of Greg's more innovative programs, The Electronic Universe, at the website
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/
It shows, among other things, how keen he is on utilizing the latest in integrative technology.

An example of the Electronic Universe is the Charge-Coupled-Device Digitized Observing Program (CCDDOP--note thata charge-coupled device is like a digital camera). It allows users at remote locations to acquire, via Internet, images of the night sky, to survey objects in deep space, and perform quantitative astronomical research. At this date it is a small scale pilot program designed to evaluate the performance of many phases of remote educational observing, including the hardware, software, usage and outcomes. A good place to find out about the CCDDOP is at the site for Friends of Pine Mountain Observatory:
http://pmo-sun.uoregon.edu/~pmo/.

While Greg's research focuses mostly on astrophysics, he also teaches extensively in the Environmental Sciences program at the University of Oregon with an emphasis on environmental data modeling, climate change, and energy generation. It is in this latter area that the October ENHS talk will focus.

Greg writes, "The earth is rapidly running out of its accessible fossil fuel reserve. As exponential population growth continues and the demand for higher energy per capita also increases what little reserve we have is in danger of being rapidly used up. This talk will focus on the range of options that exist to meet the increasing enrgy demands of a growing population. Most of these options consist of various forms of alternative or renewable energies. Each form has with it a cost/benefit/efficiency matrix that needs to be factored into future planning. Unfortunately, future planning is something that is not occurring in energy policy, primarily because the average citizen simply does not believe that we will run out of fossil fuels. This talk will present an objective, physical overview of the options that are available for future forms of energy generation.

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