Ian P. Griffin

Dr. Ian P. Griffin is the British CEO of Science Oxford, in Oxford, UK. He is the former head of public outreach at NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute. Griffin is a professional astronomer and public spokesman upon scientific matters.

Biographical information

Griffin began his professional life at University College London where he decided to pursue a career combining both astronomical research and public outreach. He was director of the Armagh Planetarium from 1990 to 1995. He then worked at The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium at Brevard Community College in the USA and Auckland Observatory in New Zealand before accepting the position as head of public outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA [cite web | author=Trifourki, Sotira (Manchester Astronomical Society)| year=2005| title=Observing Solar System Objects with the Hubble Space Telescope | format=http | url=http://www.mikeoates.org/mas/history/lectures/20040923.htm | accessdate=18 January | accessyear=2006] .

From 2004 to 2007 Griffin was director of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester [cite news
first=David
last=Ottewell
title=Science museum lands space ace
date=14 January 2004
publisher=Manchester News
url=http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/78/78124_science_museum_lands_space_ace_.html] .

Significant achievements

In his time at Space Telescope, Griffin contributed to the observation and study of a scientifically significant binary asteroid system, known as 1998 WW31 [cite journal | author=Christian Veillet, Joel Wm. Parker et al | title=The binary Kuiper-belt object 1998 WW31 | journal=Nature|year=2002 | volume=416| issue=18 April 2002 | pages=711–713|url=http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2002/04/rel/NaturePaper.pdf | doi=10.1038/416711a] . This was only the second such binary system discovered in the Kuiper Belt (the other being the Pluto and Charon system) and provided valuable data helping astronomers understand the mass and behaviour of objects in the Kuiper Belt [cite press release
publisher = NASA STSci
date = April 17 2002
title = Hubble Hunts Down Binary Objects at the Fringe of Our Solar System
url = http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2002/04/fastfacts/ ] . Griffin is also the discoverer and is responsible for naming of a number of main belt asteroids including 10924 (Mariagriffin), 23990 (Springsteen) and 33179 (Arsenewenger) via search programmes using small telescopes.

References