G. Jeffrey Taylor
Professor, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology,
UH Manoa
Director, Hawai'i Space Grant Consortium

Jeff talks about how being an astronomer allows you to solve interesting puzzles

Click on photo to
watch a video
[Play|Stream 100 kb/sec]

What he does
Jeff Taylor studies rocks from space. He combines what he learns with spacecraft data to figure out how planets form.

How he got into science
He wanted to be a writer, but switched to physics in college. A geophysics course launched him into studying the solar system.

Favorite accomplishments
Jeff liked figuring out what lunar lava was made of. He and his colleagues studied real moon rocks. Then they used clues from "remote-sensing" data to build a better picture of the lava's chemical composition.

He and Mark Robinson showed there's much less iron on Mercury than the other rocky planets.

In his free time
Jeff likes to hike, read, write, and cook with his wife, Twyla Thomas.

Quote
"If germs don't get us, asteroids will."