Aww, Just Look at How Sound His Methodology Is! Can We Keep Him?

My understanding of astrophysics is pretty thin. The lion's share of the technical details that comprise my friend Franck Marchis's work as an astronomer whizzes past and well over my head like so many comets.

But if the tenacity and cleverness that I've seen Franck bring to bear on a game of extreme croquet is in any way reflective of his approach to his work, I don't have a hard time understanding why others get excited about it as well.

His work as an astronomer sees him splitting time between the University of California Berkeley and the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., described on their Web site as a private, nonprofit organization providing research and public outreach and whose mission is "to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe." Earlier this year, Franck's investigations of Io, Jupiter's rather unusual, volcanically active moon, received a boost of support from tech entrepreneurs Jeff Breidenbach and Jeff Marshall, who found Franck through SETI's Adopt-A-Scientist program.

As Franck explained to me, the program is the recent brainchild of SETI's communications team, and has gathered quite a bit of attention, interest and participation over the past couple of years since its inception. Several levels of participation are available, allowing fans and supporters of science to directly support active research, conducted in a wide variety of technical disciplines, all dedicated to furthering our understanding of the universe and of life's place within it.

He expresses gratitude on multiple levels for the opportunity to receive direct support for his investigations through the program. It's certainly nice to receive the attention and support on its own, but Franck's benefactor, it turns out, has a strong interest in and understanding of optics, which has since led to collaboration on the design of new instrumentation.

Franck sums up the value of the experience, and the surprise discovery provided by the chance to meet those supporting his work:

"This is one of the reasons I think scientists should go out of their normal path (of writing grant applications as primary support for their research) and share their knowledge and enthusiasm with others. Sometimes a simple event could bring together two people, producing a synergy which gives birth to a new and better idea."

Photo courtesy of Franck Marchis, used with permission