Our Modern-Day Ben Franklin

MELBOURNE, FLA—Department of Physics and Space Sciences Professor Joe Dwyer has been busy adding luster to the Florida Tech image lately, gaining attention and kudos for his lightning research. In fact, he was recently described as a “Modern Day Ben Franklin” in a science blog.

Dwyer and graduate student Meagan Schaal joined in an American Geophysical Union press conference in San Francisco in January with their topic, “Catching lightning in the act.” Their participation garnered extensive national media coverage. Nationalgeographic.com, for example, reported on their research.

In Seattle, Wash., in January for the American Astronomical Society meeting, Dwyer participated in the panel discussion, “Fermi and the Gamma-Ray Sky.” Additionally, Dwyer was featured in a Jan. 10 NASA newsletter story on the Fermi Telescope, “NASA’s Fermi Catches Thunderstorms Hurling Antimatter into Space.”

Most recently, Dwyer was invited by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Astrophysics Science Division to give a division-level colloquium talk this spring. These talks are designed to bring top notch scientists to Goddard to give talks about exciting astrophysical problems and discoveries.