About

Jeff Bary is an observational astrophysicist and associate professor at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.  He was born and raised in the town of Welch, the county seat of McDowell County, located in the heart of the southern coalfields of West Virginia.  Upon graduating from Mount View High School in 1991, he attended Emory & Henry College and received a BS in Physics and Mathematics.  He would later earn a PhD in Physics at Vanderbilt University and take a postdoc position at the University of Virginia.  In 2005, he was awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship for observational investigations of young Sun-like stars and remained at UVA.

In 2008, he accepted an appointment as assistant professor at Colgate University, a small liberal arts college located in Central New York.  Bary’s teaching includes the standard introductory astronomy course for non-majors and astronomy and astrophysics courses for major.  His teaching has expanded to include a course on the nature of science, which uses the Galileo Affair to introduce students to the epistemology of modern science and the perceived conflict between science and religion.  Bary’s research into the formation and evolution of young Sun-like stars into planetary systems continues with his focus turning towards the dynamic complexity of planets in binary star systems.

In recent years, Bary has become interested in the issue of mountaintop removal mining and its impact on the communities in his home state of West Virginia.  In the fall of 2013, he organized a series of events at Colgate dedicated to drawing attention to the devastating effects this form of coal mining has on the health of the local populations and the environment.  In addition, the series sought to shine a light on Central Appalachia, its tradition of resistance, and to challenge the popular media representations of the region.

Hillbilly and Astrophysicist are two titles of which Bary is tremendously proud.  The merging of the two may seem to some to be a contradiction of terms.  If you are one of those people, then this blog is for you!