When did you join UCL and where were you before?
I have been at UCL since 1982, when I came as a postgraduate student with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City (my birth place).
For 10 years before that, I worked for the Mexican Comision Federal de Electricidad (selecting sites for thermo-electric and nuclear power plants), the Planetario Luis E. Erro (production and delivery of school and public astronomy shows) and the Departamento de Astronomia of the UNAM (Mexico National University, as part of the team developing the San Pedro Martir National Observatory in Baja California and also designing and commissioning medium-size astronomical telescopes for Mexican universities).
Tell us about your work at UCL - how do you spend your days, and what makes your role different to similar positions elsewhere?
In my 43 years at UCL, I was part of the teams that built and commissioned high-resolution spectrographs for the Anglo-Australian Telescope and the William Herschel Telescope on the Canary Islands. This work was the topic of my PhD thesis for which I was awarded the 1986-87 Harrie Massey Prize.
In recent years, I moved to teaching (both at UCL Bloomsbury Campus and the UCL Observatory) and public/school outreach. This involved undergraduate students and adults, on the UCL Diploma/Certificate in Astronomy that ran for 20 years, producing nearly 400 mature graduates. Most of them are now Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society and volunteer in our outreach events. I would like to see this course reinstated.
What are some of the most memorable moments in your career?
Since 1970, when I observed the first one from Mexico, total solar eclipses have been a real passion in my life, having organised expeditions to all continents to observe about 20 of them. A PPARC (now STFC) grant allowed my UCL team to produce a video called ‘The Magic of Total Solar Eclipses’, which became very popular during our promotion of nationwide activities related to the memorable UK-European eclipse of 1999. I toured the country with my eclipse lecture and was part of the BBC live broadcast from Cornwall.
I developed The Mind of the Universe, a popular series of public/school lectures with the support of a couple of STFC Science in Society grants. Recent titles are: The Amazing Energy of Star Death, Aliens! Where are you? and The Star of Bethlehem. Some of my lectures have been featured in UCL Minds series.
For many years I have been a regular contributor to live news broadcasts from BBC, Sky News, Euronews, Aljazeera, TRT World and others. Additionally, I played a major role on TV science documentaries by the BBC and Discovery Channel.
2009 was declared the International Year of Astronomy, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the invention of the telescope. As a UCL contribution to this worldwide celebration, I came up with the idea of a major event that eventually became Your Universe, the UCL festival of Astronomy and Particle Physics (now the Festival of Astronomy and Planetary Science, in collaboration with Birkbeck University).
Your Universe Festival is arguably the largest UCL outreach display, taking over both cloisters, Jeremy Bentham Room, Garden Room, Front Quad and main lecture theatres for 3-4 days at the end of winter, when the late afternoon sky allows (portable) telescope observations of the Moon, planets, and on very clear sky, the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades star cluster. Pre-booked primary and secondary school groups attend during weekdays and families and general public are welcomed on Saturdays.
What are some of your favourite things about working at UCL? How have you found it different to previous jobs?
UCL provides a wonderfully rich environment that promotes creativity and cross-fertilisation between faculties, essential in a world desperate for multidisciplinary actions in all sectors.
Can you tell us about any upcoming research, or future projects that you’re looking forward to working on?
I am (finally!) at the point of officially retiring. However, I will continue working on an extension of ‘The Mind of the Universe’ project, called ‘Paradise Planet Earth’, an educational programme bringing together cosmology, astrophysics, planetary and environmental sciences, mythology, arts, philosophy, global politics, etc.
In 2024 I had a successful promotional lecturing tour to universities, colleges and general public to Spain, Mexico and Cuba. Consequently, I am developing a Spanish version.
I am part of a team to contribute events and activities from the Department of Physics and Astronomy for the UCL200 celebration this year.
Finally, tell us about your non-work life. Do you have any hobbies, or favourite places to go in London?
I find London to be a unique cosmopolitan environment with a wide variety of cultural activities. Some of my non-work life includes astronomy, photography, reading, DIY and music.
Music has always been a major part of my life, both as a listener and as a performer. I am part of large choral groups and sing frequently in main venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican. I am also a member of the UCL Chamber Music Club and the annual PandA Extravaganza as a singer and guitar player.
I am also an active pacifist, joining a Latin American group and our UCU branch group in monthly demonstrations against genocide.
More places in London? I love watching sunsets from my local Ruskin Park and full moon rises from the heights of Crystal Palace; rowing on Hyde Park Serpentine and valuing the powerful environmental message (rather warning!) of The Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens.