Dana Backman

Dana Backman has extensive experience in astrophysics and education, currently serving as Principal Investigator and Lead for the NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program at the SETI Institute since June 2003, while also directing SOFIA Outreach. Concurrently, Dana Backman has been an author of introductory astronomy textbooks for Cengage Learning since 2005. Previous academic positions include serving as an Astronomy instructor at Santa Clara University from 2007 to 2013 and teaching Astronomy, Astrobiology, and Climate Science at Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program from 2005 to 2012. Dana Backman held the position of Professor of Physics & Astronomy at Franklin & Marshall College from 1991 to 2003 and was a post-doctoral researcher at NASA Ames Research Center and Kitt Peak National Observatory before that. Educational qualifications include a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and multiple Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.