EXPERTS AVAILABLE: 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

July 27th, 2017

The views and opinions expressed in this “for expert comment” release are based on research and/or opinions of the researcher(s) and/or faculty member(s) and do not reflect the University’s official stance.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A total solar eclipse will be visible across North America on Aug. 21, 2017, with a good portion of the Midwest located in prime viewing area. The first total eclipse seen in the continental U.S. since 1979, a vast swath of Missouri will be traversed by the shadow of the moon, plunging the state into darkness.

The University of Missouri offers the following scholars with various expertise on the significance of the event:

• Eric Aldrich is a technology resource coordinator and adjunct instructor in meteorology in the MU School of Natural Resources. A former meteorologist with KOMU-TV, Aldrich will be collaborating with NASA to conduct a live broadcast during the eclipse where he will interview Janet Kavandi, a former astronaut, graduate of Missouri University of Science and Technology and director of the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
• Frederick Fraunfelder is director of ophthalmology at University of Missouri Health Care and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the MU School of Medicine. Fraunfelder is an expert in corneal disease, ocular oncology and laser surgery. He offers tips on how to view the eclipse safely in a press release and video that may be found here.
• Mannie Liscum is a professor of biological sciences at MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center. Liscum researches phototropism, or the study of how plants respond to light in their environment. His research focuses on how plants alter their growth and development in response to environmental changes.
• Angela Speck is professor of astrophysics and director of astronomy in the MU Department of Physics and Astronomy. Speck is an internationally respected authority on “stardust,” the material that is ejected by dying stars. Speck works to promote public understanding and appreciation of science and its place in society. Read more about Speck here.
• Bethany Stone is a teaching professor in the MU Division of Biological Sciences. Her teaching interests include introducing non-science majors and the public to the importance of science in our daily lives. Stone will discuss experiments she and her team are setting up to study plant responses to the eclipse.
• Jeff Wood is an assistant research professor of biometeorology in the MU School of Natural Resources. Wood and his team received a grant to observe the eclipse’s effects on atmospheric pressure, wind and meteorological anomalies.

If interested in interviewing these or other Mizzou experts, please contact Jeff Sossamon, 573-882-3346 or sossamonj@missouri.edu.

Editor’s Note: To learn more about the 2017 total solar eclipse and events on campus and in the surrounding communities, please visit www.missouri.edu/eclipse.