UBC PhysAstro: Research Directory

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UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
6224 Agricultural Rd., Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z1, Canada
Phone: (604)822-3853 Fax: (604)822-5324

Prof. Harvey B. Richer

Professor
Astronomy & Astrophysics

Office:	Hennings 306	(604)822-4134	Research Web Site
			Group Web Site
			Personal Web Site

Short Biography:

Born 1944-04-07 in Montreal Citizenship: Canadian

Marital status: Married with 2 children

Bachelors Degree: McGill (1965) Physics and Mathematics
Masters Degree: Rochester (1967) Physics and Astronomy
Doctoral Degree: Rochester (1970) Physics and Astronomy

Employment History: UBC 1970-date
Uppsala 1977, CFHT 1984, Cambridge 1991, Rome Observatory 1998, UCLA 2005.

Awards & Honours: Canada-Fulbright Fellowship 2005
Canada Coucil Killam Fellowship 2001-03
Gemini Scientist for Canada 2000-03
UBC Killam 1991

Committees & Service: Department: Executive Committee
Community: CFHT Board of Directors, HIA Advisory Board

Activities: Long distance running, skiing, scuba diving, hiking, good eating.

Research:

Area: Astronomy
Field: Stellar astrophysics
Topics: Stellar populations, star clusters white dwarfs

I am currently actively recruiting new graduate students.

Current Research Activity

My area of research is stellar astronomy and I am interested in what resolved systems of stars can tell us about dark matter, the age of the Universe, the dynamical evolution of stellar systems and the formation of galaxies. To investigate these diverse subjects I observe a wide range of objects including nearby stars, open and globular star clusters and the resolved components of our neighbouring galaxies. To accomplish my research goals I use a variety of telescopes particularly the twin Gemini Telescopes, the Canada France Hawaii Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. An intensive area of current interest is a search for the oldest white dwarfs. In the right environments, extremely cool white dwarfs can be used to check on the chronology of stellar systems and provide age estimates largely independent of the usual assumptions of stellar evolution theory. Ages of stellar systems using white dwarfs are currently being derived for open clusters, the Galactic halo and globular star clusters. The eventual aim is that these ages will confront ages derived from stellar evolution and from the expansion of the Universe and lead to new insights into cosmology. For more information about this work see http://astro.ucla.edu/~hansen/m4.html.

Last updated 2008-03-07 14:16:30