Simon Steel

Simon Steel is Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute. As an observational astrophysicist, he specialized in optical spectrophotometry, with an interest in the star formation histories of galaxies. As a science educator and communicator for over 25 years, Simon has held lectureships at Harvard University, University College London and University College Dublin, and is an eight-time recipient of Harvard’s Certificate of Distinction in Teaching award for undergraduate education. Simon’s experience spans formal and informal education, teacher training, museum exhibit design and multimedia product development. He has an interest in special needs audiences and co-wrote, for NASA and the Chandra X-Ray Center, the first ever Braille book on multiwavelength astrophysics: Touch the Invisible Sky. Simon is Principal Investigator for the NASA Community College Network, a major initiative to bring cutting-edge space science into the community college classroom, and is an education specialist supporting NASA’s Office of Planetary Protection. Originally from England, Simon is a qualified secondary school science teacher in the UK, and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.