R. O. Parke Loyd

Post-Doctoral Researcher in Astrophysics, Arizona State University

I’m an astrophysicist currently working with Evgenya Shkolnik's group at Arizona State University. I research planetary systems with stars smaller than the Sun, focusing on the space environment these stars provide to their planets. Yearly, I co-instruct a class called Wilderness Astronomy that I created with fellow astro-outdoorsperson Melodie Kao. In the odds and ends of my time, I climb cliffs, wander through wildernesses, cultivate evergreen trees, and putter around in my little plane. All these things are joined by one grand theme: a love for the feeling of being overcome with awe, whether through imagining alien worlds, soaring in an endless sea of air, clinging to the face of a mountain, or disappearing into a vast wilderness.