Address: Spitzer Science Center
California Institute of Technology
Mail Stop 314-6
Pasadena,CA 91125
U.S.A.
phone: (626) 395 8073
FAX: (626) 432 7484
email: carl _at_ ipac.caltech.edu
Degrees: B.Sc. (Honours) Astrophysics University of Calgary, 1983
M.Sc. Astronomy University of Victoria, 1986
Ph.D. Astronomy & Astrophysics Australian National University, 1993
Awards: Australian National University 1988-1992 Australian National
Ph.D. Scholarship University
Natural Sciences and Engineering 1988-1991 Australian National
Research Council of Canada University
Ph.D. Scholarship
University of Toronto Open 1987 University of Toronto
Doctoral Fellowship
Petrie Fellowship 1987 University of Victoria
Top Student in Physics Prize 1981,1982,1983 University of Calgary
Province of Alberta Award 1981,1982 University of Calgary
BP Canada Scholarship 1981-1982 University of Calgary
University of Calgary Merit Award 1980 University of Calgary
Cecil M. Brownlee Bursary 1979 University of Calgary
Employment History
Spitzer Science Center Associate Research Scientist 1997-present Pasadena, California
California Institute of Technology Research Fellow 1996-1997 Pasadena, California
University of California Visiting Research Fellow 1992-1995 Santa Cruz, California
Australian National University Graduate Student 1988-1992 Canberra, Australia
Space Telescope Science Institute Research Assistant 1985-1987 Baltimore, Maryland
University of Victoria Teaching Assistant 1984-1985 Victoria, British Columbia
University of Victoria NSERC Undergraduate Fellow 1983 Victoria, British Columbia
University of Calgary NSERC Undergraduate Fellow 1981,1982 Calgary, Alberta
Honors and Awards:
2011 NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
MacLean's Magazine Honour Roll 2006: "Thirty-Nine
Canadians Who Make the World a Better Place to Live
In: Discoverers and Thinkers."
1997 Gemini Fellowship
Awarded, 165 orbits/hours of Hubble and Spitzer Space
Telescope time as Principal Investigator.
Awarded, 1488 hours/orbits of Hubble and Spitzer Space
Telescope time as Co-Investigator.
Professional Experience
2010-present: Serving as a calibration scientist for the WISE Data
Center.
2010-2013: Co-Investigator and core science team member of the
FINESSE NASA Explorer proposal to develop and launch a space telescope
dedicated to spectroscopic characterization of exoplanet
atmospheres. (PI Swain).
1997-present: Serving the Spitzer Science Center as a member and
one-time deputy task lead of the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS
instrument support team, and most recently as a member of the Infrared
Array Camera (IRAC) instrument team.
2007-2011: Principal Investigator, Palomar Transient Factory
Galactic Dynamics Key Project.
2008: Member, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Galactic Structure
Science Collaboration, and co-chair of the Near-Field Cosmology group (with
Marla Geha).
2007-2013: Co-Investigator, Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber
Spectroscopic Telescope-PLUS collaboration (LAMOST-PLUS, Principal
Investigator Heidi Newberg).
2005-2007: Principal Investigator, California Transit Authority
Extrasolar Planet Search Team.
1999-2010: Member, Infrared Spectrograph GTO team (PI Houck).
2005-present: Co-Investigator, Virtual Planetary Lab (Principal
Investigator Victoria Meadows). This large, NASA-funded team is
applying a multi-disciplinary approach to studying techniques
and prospects for the detection of habitable planets and life around
other stars.
2004-2007: Member, Origins Billion Star Survey collaboration (PI
Johnston). This was a concept study for a spacecraft that would
measure the positions and motions of stars throughout the entire Milky
Way galaxy.
2000-2010: Co-Investigator, Space Interferometry
Mission/Planetquest Galactic Structure Science Team (PI
Majewski). Developed plans and campaigns to assemble the
target list for the SIM Planetquest Mission to study the structure and
evolution of the Galactic disk and halo.
1998-1999: Member, HCOSS (High Constrast Origins Science Strategies
for the Next Generation Space Telescope) collaboration (Principal
Investigator John Trauger). This was a design study to investigate
exoplanet-imaging techniques for use on what is now called the James
Webb Space Telescope.
1993-2001: Co-Investigator, Hubble Space Telescope "NUKER"
collaboration to study the cores of nearby galaxies with the Hubble
Space Telescope (Principal Investigators Doug Richstone and Sandy
Faber). We were awarded a total 430 orbits of Hubble Space Telescope
time and discovered supermassive black holes in the centers of almost
all the galaxies we examined. Numerous publications.
1996-1997: Member, Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 Science
Team. Analyzed WFPC2 GTO data and published papers on stellar
populations in the Local Group. Also investigated charge transfer
efficiency problems with WFPC2 by analyzing both on-orbit calibration
data, and designing and carrying out experiments using the Witness
WFPC2 at JPL.
1994-1997: Member, "SAGES" collaboration to obtain Hubble Space
Telescope imaging and Keck spectroscopy of extragalactic globular
cluster systems.
1992-1995: Member, Wide Field/Planetary Camera Instrument Definition
team. Analyzed and published both pre- and post-refurbishment Hubble
Space Telescope data acquired through the WFPC GTO program. Also
assisted in the pre-launch testing and calibration of WFPC2.
1985-1986: Data Analyst, Space Telescope Science Institute. While my
primary role was as a research assistant, during this time I also
spent time at the Goddard Space Flight Center and recalibrated the
on-orbit camera sensitivities for the International Ultraviolet
Explorer.
Telescope Allocations
2015: Awarded 2 nights on the Palomar 200 inch for program "Associating
RR Lyrae with Tidal Streams". PI Grillmair
2014: Awarded 1 night on the Palomar 200 inch for program "Associating
RR Lyrae with Tidal Streams". PI Grillmair.
2014: Awarded 1 night on the Blanco 4-meter/DECam for program "Tracing
the Orphan Stream with DECam". PI Grillmair.
2013: Awarded 1 night on the Blanco 4-meter/DECam for program "Extending
the Orphan Stream with DECam". PI Grillmair.
2011: Awarded 871 hours of Cycle 8 Explorer time on the Spitzer Space
Telescope for program "Phase Curves of Transiting Exoplanets." PI Krick.
2009: Awarded 23.1 hours of Cycle 6 time on the Spitzer Space
Telescope for program "Spitzer/IRAC Study of Stellar Streams Around
Nearby Galaxies." PI Laine.
2009: Awarded 1 night on the Palomar 200 inch for program "Bootes
III: A New and Disrupting Dwarf Galaxy?" PI Grillmair.
2008: Awarded 10.1 hours of Cycle 5 time on the Spitzer Space Telescope
for program "An Exoplanet Transmission Spectrum". PI Swain.
2008: Awarded 17 orbits in Cycle 17 on Hubble Space Telescope program
"The Main Sequence Luminosity Function of Low-Mass Globular
Clusters". PI Smith.
2008: Awarded 5.1 hours of Cycle 5 time on the Spitzer Space Telescope
for program "Variability in PMS Circumbinary Disks". PI Boden
2008: Awarded 25.6 hours of Cycle 5 time on the Spitzer Space
Telescope for program "The Latitudinal Distribution of Solar System
Small Bodies". PI Fazio.
2008: Awarded 2 nights on the Palomar 200 inch for program "Bootes
III: A New and Disrupting Dwarf Galaxy?" PI Grillmair.
2007: Awarded 119 hours on Spitzer Space Telescope program "A Spitzer/
IRS Legacy Spectrum for Exoplanet HD 189733b". PI Grillmair.
2007: Awarded 2 nights on the Palomar 200 inch on program
"Bootes III: A New and Disrupting Dwarf Galaxy?". PI Grillmair.
2007: Awarded 5 nights on WIYN for program "Fishing in Tidal Streams",
PI Grillmair.
2006: Awarded 12 hours on Spitzer Space Telescope program "A Spitzer
Spectrum for HD 189733b". PI Grillmair.
2006: Awarded 4.4 hours of Director's Discretionary Time on the
Spitzer Space Telescope for program "Spitzer Observations of the
Enceladus Plume", PI Meadows.
2006: Awarded 9 nights on the Kitt Peak and CTIO 4-meters as PI on
program "Tracing Tidal Tails in Galactic Globular Clusters".
2005: Awarded 64 orbits on Hubble Space Telescope program "Resolving
M32's Main Sequence: A Critical Test for Stellar Population Studies".
PI Lauer.
2005: Awarded 2 nights on the Palomar 200 inch as PI on program "Deep
Imaging of Open Cluster for Extrasolar Planet Detection"
2005: Awarded 4 nights on the CTIO 4-meter as PI on a program "Tracing
the Tidal Tails of NGC 5897"
2004: Awarded 4 nights on the Palomar 200 inch as PI on program
"Tracing Tidal Tails in Galactic Globular Cluster."
2003: Awarded 14 nights on the Kitt Peak and CTIO 4-meters as PI on
program "Tracing Tidal Tails in Galactic Globular Clusters."
2003: Awarded, 7 nights on the Palomar 200 inch as PI on program
"Tracing Tidal Tails in Galactic Globular Clusters".
2003: Awarded, 2 nights of Open Use time on the Subaru Telescope as PI
on program "The Tidal Tails of Palomar 5: Tracing the Demise of a
Globular Cluster."
2000-2002: Awarded 7 nights on the Palomar 200 inch as PI on program
"Tracing Tidal Tails in Galactic Globular Clusters."
2000: Awarded, 3 orbits on the Hubble Space Telescope as PI on program
"Proper Motions in Baade's Window".
1999: Awarded, 8 orbits on the Hubble Space Telescope as PI on program
"The Evolution of Globular Cluster Systems in Early-Type
Galaxies".
1996: Awarded, 18 orbits on the Hubble Space Telescope as Principal
Investigator on program "Globular Clusters in Fornax Galaxies".
Research Grants
2012: NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis proposal "The WISE Variable
Source Database and RR Lyrae Tracers of Milky Way Tidal Streams"
(PI R. Cutri)
2011: NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis proposal "Stellar Debris
Streams: Probing The Galactic Dark Matter Distribution with WISE and
2MASS" (PI Grillmair)
2011: Spitzer Cycle 8 program "Phase Curves for Transiting Exoplanets"
(PI Krick).
2010: NSF Proposal "A Partnership with the Chinese LAMOST Project in
Galactic Astronomy" (PI Newberg).
2009: Spitzer proposal "Spitzer/IRAC Study of Stellar Streams Around
Nearby Galaxies" (PI Laine).
2008: Spitzer proposal "An Exoplanet Transmission Spectrum". (PI Swain).
2008: HST proposal "The Main Sequence Luminosity Function of Low-Mass
Globular Clusters". (PI Smith).
2007: Spitzer proposal "A Spitzer/IRS Legacy Spectrum for
Exoplanet HD 189733b", (PI Grillmair).
2006: Spitzer proposal "A Spitzer Spectrum for HD 189733b" (PI
Grillmair).
2005: HST proposal "Resolving M32's Main Sequence: A Critical
Test for Population Studies", (PI Lauer).
2004: SIM Planetquest proposal "Taking Measure of the Milky Way",
(PI Majewski).
2000: HST proposal "Proper Motions in Baade's Window", (PI
Grillmair).
1999: HST proposal "The Evolution of Globular Cluster Systems in
Early Type Galaxies", (PI Grillmair).
1998: HST proposal "The Early Evolution of Local Group Dwarf Irregular
Galaxies", (PI Smith).
1998: HST proposal "The Main Sequence Luminosity Functions of NGC
5466 and Palomar 5", (PI Smith).
1997: HST proposal "NICMOS Imaging of Red Giants in M32", (PI
Worthey).
1996: HST proposal "Globular Clusters in Fornax Galaxies", (PI
Grillmair).
1995: HST proposal "Globular Clusters and Shells in Elliptical
Galaxies", (PI Forbes).
Services to the Community
2014: Served on the NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis panel "Normal Galaxies".
2013: Served on the National Science Foundation Panel "Galaxy Structure."
2010: Served on National Science Foundation panel "Galactic Populations,
abundances, surveys, and structure."
2005-2010: Director, Llano Community Association.
2009: Served on NASA Keck 2009b Exoplanet panel.
2009: Served on National Science Foundation panel "Galactic Structure
and the Local Group."
2008: Served on Spitzer Exploration Science Galactic time allocation panel.
2008: Served on the NASA Keck 2009a Exoplanet panel.
2008: Served on the Spitzer Warm Mission Exoplanet Ad Hoc committee.
2008: Served on National Science Foundation panel "Galaxies 1: Groups and Clusters."
2008: Served on Spitzer Fellowship Review panel.
2004-2005: Served on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Palomar time allocation committee.
2001-present: Served as external advisor to graduate students
and mentor to high school students in the U.S. and Europe.
1995-present: Refereed numerous ground-based telescope proposals, as
well as NRC, NSERC, NASA, private endowment, and European individual
grant applications.
1999: Served on NASA Astrophysics Theory Program proposal review.
1998: Served on Galaxy Populations and Interactions panel for the
Cycle 8 Hubble Space Telescope Proposal Review.
1998: Served on Space Telescope Science Institute Focus Group to
examine alternative, more efficient methods of calibration, analysis,
and archiving of Hubble Space Telescope Data.
Invited Seminars
"Nearby Halo Streams", ESO Chile Workshop Satellites and Streams in
Santiago, 15 April, 2015.
"Nearby Halo Streams", invited review given at "Lessons from the Local
Group", a conference celebrating the birthdays of Bruce Elmegreen and
David Block in the Seychelles Islands, May 20-25, 2014
"Exploring the Galaxy with Stellar Streams", Chesley Bonestell
Memorial Lecture at the Monterey Institute for Research in Astonomy,
23 February, 2013.
"Probing Galactic Dark Matter with Stellar Debris Streams",
invited seminar given at Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatories,
2 June, 2011.
"Stellar Debris Streams: New Probes of Galactic Structure and Formation",
invited colloquium given at the University of Virginia, 9 September, 2010.
"Stellar Debris Streams: New Probes of Galactic Structure and
Formation", invited review given at "Galaxies and their Masks:
K. C. Freeman 70th Birthday Fest'' in Sossusvlei, Namibia, April
2010.
"`Combined Light Transits, Photometry and Spectroscopy",
invited review give at the Keck Institute for Space Studies workshop
on ``Innovative Approaches to Exoplanet Spectra'' at Caltech, November
2009.
"An Overview of the Palomar Transient Factory Pipeline and
Archive at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center", invited
review given at Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems
XIX in Sapporo, Japan, October 2009.
"Spitzer/IRS Measurements of Exoplanets" 2009 Sagan
Expoplanet Workshop on "Exoplanetary Atmospheres", Caltech, July
2009.
"Spectroscopy with the Spitzer Space Telescope", Pittsburgh Conference
on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, Chicago, Illinois,
11 March, 2009.
"Galactic Structure and Near Field Cosmology with Tidal Streams",
Carnegie Observatories Colloquium Series, Observatories of the
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Pasadena, 3 March, 2009.
"Strong Water Absorption in the Atmosphere of HD 189733b", invited
seminar given at the Center for Exoplanet Science, Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, 5 February, 2009.
"Finding Galactic Streams in Large Surveys", invited review at the
Ringberg conference on Classification and Discovery in Large
Astronomical Surveys, Ringberg Castle, Germany, 16 October, 2008.
"Spitzer Characterization of Hot Extrasolar Planets", invited review
at COSPAR-08, Montreal, July, 2008.
"Stellar Streams in the Local Group", invited seminar given at
Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, 4 August,
2007.
"A Spitzer Spectrum of HD 189733b", invited seminar given at the
Center for Exoplanet Science, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 16 April,
2007
"Tons of Tidal Streams", invited talk given at the Aspen Center for
Physics Summer Workshop on "Deconstructing the Local Group", Aspen,
CO, August 2007.
"Galactic Structure with SIM", colloquium given at the Institute for
Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 14 June 2004.
"Globular Cluster Tidal Tails", invited seminar given at the Pontifica
Universidad Catolica de Chile, 3 July, 2003.
"Photographic Searches for Extended Tidal Streams", invited talk given
at the Ringberg Workshop on Satellite Galaxies, June 28-July 2, 1999,
at Ringberg Castle, Tegernsee, Germany.
"Tidal Stripping of Globular Clusters: Observations and Simulations",
invited talk at Joint Discussion JD15, during the XXIIIrd General
Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, August 18-30, 1997,
Kyoto, Japan.
"Probing the Galactic Halo with Globular Cluster Tidal Tails", invited
talk given at the Workshop on Galactic Halos, August 4-10, 1997,
University of California, Santa Cruz.
Public Outreach
2008: Nature press release "Exoplanet may harbour stormy skies".
2007: Caltech/AAS-210 press release "Running Rings Around the Galaxy".
2007: NASA/Caltech press release "NASA's Spitzer First to Crack Open
Light of Faraway Worlds", with J. Richardson and M. Swain.
2006: NASA/Caltech press release "Astronomers Find a Galactic Highway
in the Sky"
2006: Caltech press release "Astronomers Discover a River of Stars
Streaming Across the Northern Sky".
1999: Space Telescope Science Institute press release "Hubble Finds
More Evidence of Galactic Cannibalism"
1997-present: Have given numerous public talks on general astronomy,
NASA missions, and the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes at schools,
planetariums, star parties, community centers, and resort locations.
Interests and Passions
Cycling (road)
Hiking (alpine)
Skiing (helicopter)
Flying (sailplanes, ultralights, general aviation)
Music (classical, opera, rock, alternative, African, Middle Eastern)
Environment (clean energy, recycling, waste reduction, water conservation)
Home and Car Repair (what now honey...?)
Dogs (big)
Publication List
Last updated: 19 May, 2015
Carl Grillmair (carl _at_ ipac.caltech.edu)