Matthew Templeton

I am the Science Director of the AAVSO, and my roles include Campaign Coordinator, PEP Program Coordinator, and High Energy Network Coordinator. I serve as the science liason between AAVSO Headquarters and the research community. At the AAVSO, I've worked on a number of different research projects but primarily focus on using long-term visual light curves of AGB stars -- the Mira and semiregular variables -- for astrophysical research.

I attained my Bachelor's of Science in Physics from the University of Delaware in 1994, and I attained my Doctorate in Astronomy from New Mexico State University in June 2000. At Delaware I worked with Dr. Richard Herr at the Mount Cuba Observatory to observe flare stars. At New Mexico State I worked with Drs. Bernie McNamara and Thomas Harrison on high-energy observations of Scorpius X-1, and with McNamara and Dr. Joyce Guzik (Los Alamos National Laboratory) on delta Scuti stars. I spent two years at Yale University prior to coming to the AAVSO working with Dr. Sarbani Basu on various projects related to astero- and helioseismology.

The AAVSO is a remarkable organization, and it has been an incredible privilege to work here. Each and every one of us who submits an observation or supports the organization not only furthers science, but becomes a part of an organization with more than a century of history in its past, and whose future may well be much longer. Under the care of the AAVSO, the data of its observers may well be used to advance science well into the future. It is our job to enable the observers to continue their craft, to aid the scientists of today in their research, and to preserve the archives of the AAVSO for future scientists. I'm proud to be a part of that.