Bob is interested in testing cosmology with supernovae and clusters of galaxies. He was co-chair of the SN working group until recently and should be out of recovery soon. He has sat on the DES Management Council for many years, since Portsmouth joined DES a decade ago now. He is particularly proud of helping to establish links between DES and other projects like OzDES.
We asked Bob a few more questions — here’s what he had to say:
What is your favorite part about being a scientist?
Constantly working on new stuff. I love exploring new areas of astronomy and science. Not sure this is a good career path, but it’s the only way I stay motivated.
When did you know you wanted to be a scientist?
I went to ESO telescopes during my PhD and had my “wow” moment (namely someone was stupid enough to put me in charge of such things!)
What motivates / inspires you?
I get inspired by the science, otherwise I can be a manager in some other walk of life! I get inspired by working in small teams, usually with motivated early career researchers. I love being shown new plots by my students!
If you weren’t a scientist, what would your dream job be?
A film producer / director (still not too late)
What is your secret talent?
Being overly optimistic and sometimes naive. In science it is easy to get immediately bogged down in the details and then get demotivated. There is growing evidence that optimistic people live longer!
Thinking back to when you were an undergrad in physics (if applicable), was there anything you were taught then that is not taught now?
In the 80’s, no-one taught me about the cosmological constant!
Any advice for aspiring scientists?
Work hard, be focused, work on what motivates you, and take care of the details.