"Brian Pohl's Resume"

Brian L. Pohl

Mailing Address:
Durham, NC

E-mail Address:
bpohl(at)physics.unc.edu

Education

2004-present University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
       PhD, Astrophysics 2011 (Expected)
       MS, Astrophysics 2008

1990-1994 University of Colorado, Boulder
       BA, Physics

Professional experience

11/2002-8/2004 Univeristy of North Carolina, Department of Physics and Astronomy - Assistant Unix Systems Administrator
Provide support and administration for the department's Solaris and Linux public workstations and servers. Develop perl/shell scripts to automate tasks. Compile and install end user software with a specialization in astronomy related software. Some specific tasks include:

Principle IRAF site administrator.

Compile, install and configure server software such as Cyrus IMAPD, Apache HTTPD, and Squirrelmail (a Webmail service).

6/1999-11/2001 U.S. Naval Observatory, Astrometry Department - Astronomer/Scientific Programmer
Design and implement the data acquisition, instrument control and data reduction software for the Multi Channel Fourier Transform Spectrometer under development for the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) astrometric grid survey. Assist with all aspects of the project including electronics, optics, metrology, algorithms and system integration.   The most critical duties are listed in more detail below.

Design and implement GUI control software for our CCD camera and shutter assembley, Inchworm delay line motors and laser metrology system on Win NT/2000 platforms using the Borland C++ Builder 5 environment.

Responsible for electronic systems integration and automation of the three systems above.

Implement data reduction algorithms using C/C++ in a Linux shell environment

10/1994-5/1999 National Optical Astronomy Observatories, National Solar Observatory, Global Oscillation Network Group - Data Reduction Specialist
5/99 - 7/98   Responsible for support and maintenance of existing Gong Reduction and Analysis Software Package (GRASP) downstream data reduction software. Design, implement and test new data processing algorithms using SPP and IRAF/Script programming languages in an IRAF/Solaris environment.

7/98 - 10/94    Responsible for production of mode coefficient time series and power spectra from solar velocity and intensity images using existing GRASP software. Duties expanded to designing IRAF scripts to automate data reduction procedures, developing and testing new data reduction software, and writing web based software documentation. Specific software projects include:

Measure and apply corrections for the Earth-Sun ephemeris velocity in the observer plane.

Compute and apply a first order fit of the measured Solar velocity to the ephemeris.

Produce science quality corrections for the Sun's differential rotation.

Teaching Experience

UNC Health Care Access Program (HCAP) 2009-2010

2 Summer terms Science Enrichment Preparation (SEP) Program. Program assistant (PA) for an eight week summer program that prepares disadvantages youth for careers in health care. Teach supplimental instruction sessions, assist with grading and logistics for the physics portion of the program.
UNC Physics & Astronomy Department Fall 2004 - Present

2 Semesters PHYS-116R. Recitation instructor for first semester, introductory, calculus based physics (mechanics). Responsible for two sections of roughly 20 students each. Graded for two sections of the lecture. Assisted students in the department's tutorial center.

1 Semester PHYS-117R. Recitation instructor for Second semester, introductory, calculus based physics (electricity and magnetism). Responsible for two sections of roughly 20 students each. Graded for two sections of the lecture. Assisted students in the department's tutorial center.

3 semesters ASTR-101L. Night laboratory for introductory Astronomy for non-science majors. One section of roughly 30 students meeting once per week. Experiments involved viewing astronomical objects with small telescopes (weather permitting). Also included atomic spectra studies.

3 semesters ASTR-101P. Planetarium laboratory for introductory Astronomy for non-science majors. Two sections of roughly 150 students meeting every other week. We use the Morehead Planetarium to perform some basic measurements of astronomical phenomina.

1 Semester PHYS-331. Teaching assistant for Numerical Techniques. One section of 25 students meeting twice a week in the computer lab. Assist students with the implementation of numerical algorithms using Matlab.

Education and Public Outreach Experience

8/2005 - 8/2008	UNC Physics and Astronomy Department Public Outreach Coordinator. Work with department staff and volunteers to design and execute public outreach events for the Physics department. We participated in 5-10 outreach events per year. Our major event is our anual in-house physics demonstration show for audiences of about 150 people.
9/2005-5/2006	Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Educator. Host 45 minute physics demonstration shows for K-12 aged children. These shows are designed to compliment the planetarium experience and demonstrate various forms of mechanical energy. I typically do one or two shows per month.
Fall 2004-present	Morehead Observatory. Assist with the public observing night at the Morehead 24" telescope once or twice per semester.
10/1999-11/2001	U.S. Naval Observatory. Once per month, I represented the astrometry department during our weekly public tour. This involved demonstrating the use of either our 12 inch or 26 inch Alvan Clark refracting telescopes and discussing the history and current research at the observatory.

Computing Experience

5+ years

Programming Languages: C, C++, Borland CBuilder 5, IRAF/script, IRAF/SPP, IRAF/IGI, PERL, AWK, HTML

Systems Experience: Sun Solaris 7 - 9 on SPARC platforms, Redhat Linux 6.1 - 9.0 and WinNT/2000 on Intel x86 archetectures.

Publications

Yong, D.; Carney, B.W.; de Almeida, M.L.T; Pohl, B.L., "Elemental Abundance Ratios in Stars of the Outer Galactic Disk. III. Cepheids", 2005, AJ, submitted.

Hajian, A.R.; Pohl, B.L.; Mozurkewich, D.; Armstrong, J.T.; Hindsley, R.B.; Murison, M.; Olling, R.P.; & Nordgren T.A.; "Initial Results from the USNO Dispersed FTS", 2005, in preparation.

Hajian, A.R.; Knuth, K.H.; Pohl, B.; Hindsley, R.B.; Armstrong, J.T.; Mozurkewich, D.; & Tycner, C.; "Spectral Inference from a Multiplexing Fourier Transform Spectrometer", 2005, PASP, submitted.

Mason, Brian D.; Hartkopf, William I.; Wycoff, Gary L.; Holdenried, Ellis R.; Platais, Imants; Rafferty, Theodore J.; Hall, David M.; Hennessy, Greg S.; Urban, Sean E.; Pohl, Brian L., "Speckle Interferometry at the US Naval Observatory. VII.", 2001, AJ, 122, 1586M

Antia, H. M.; Basu, Sarbani; Pintar, J.; Pohl, B. "Solar Cycle Variation in Solar f-Mode Frequencies and Radius", 2000, SoPh, 192, 459A

Pohl, B.; Anderson, E., "Producing Science Quality Rotation-Corrected Power Spectra", 1998, soho, 9E, 33A

Harvey, J.; Hill, F.; Komm, R.; Leibacher, J.; Pohl, B.; The GONG Team, "GONG Spectra in three observables: What is a p-mode frequency?", 1998, IAUS, 185, 49H

2004-present	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill PhD, Astrophysics 2011 (Expected) MS, Astrophysics 2008
1990-1994	University of Colorado, Boulder BA, Physics

11/2002-8/2004	Univeristy of North Carolina, Department of Physics and Astronomy - Assistant Unix Systems Administrator Provide support and administration for the department's Solaris and Linux public workstations and servers. Develop perl/shell scripts to automate tasks. Compile and install end user software with a specialization in astronomy related software. Some specific tasks include: Principle IRAF site administrator. Compile, install and configure server software such as Cyrus IMAPD, Apache HTTPD, and Squirrelmail (a Webmail service).
6/1999-11/2001	U.S. Naval Observatory, Astrometry Department - Astronomer/Scientific Programmer Design and implement the data acquisition, instrument control and data reduction software for the Multi Channel Fourier Transform Spectrometer under development for the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) astrometric grid survey. Assist with all aspects of the project including electronics, optics, metrology, algorithms and system integration. The most critical duties are listed in more detail below. Design and implement GUI control software for our CCD camera and shutter assembley, Inchworm delay line motors and laser metrology system on Win NT/2000 platforms using the Borland C++ Builder 5 environment. Responsible for electronic systems integration and automation of the three systems above. Implement data reduction algorithms using C/C++ in a Linux shell environment
10/1994-5/1999	National Optical Astronomy Observatories, National Solar Observatory, Global Oscillation Network Group - Data Reduction Specialist 5/99 - 7/98 Responsible for support and maintenance of existing Gong Reduction and Analysis Software Package (GRASP) downstream data reduction software. Design, implement and test new data processing algorithms using SPP and IRAF/Script programming languages in an IRAF/Solaris environment.
	*7/98 - 10/94* Responsible for production of mode coefficient time series and power spectra from solar velocity and intensity images using existing GRASP software. Duties expanded to designing IRAF scripts to automate data reduction procedures, developing and testing new data reduction software, and writing web based software documentation. Specific software projects include: Measure and apply corrections for the Earth-Sun ephemeris velocity in the observer plane. Compute and apply a first order fit of the measured Solar velocity to the ephemeris. Produce science quality corrections for the Sun's differential rotation.

UNC Health Care Access Program (HCAP) 2009-2010
2 Summer terms	Science Enrichment Preparation (SEP) Program. Program assistant (PA) for an eight week summer program that prepares disadvantages youth for careers in health care. Teach supplimental instruction sessions, assist with grading and logistics for the physics portion of the program.
UNC Physics & Astronomy Department Fall 2004 - Present
2 Semesters	PHYS-116R. Recitation instructor for first semester, introductory, calculus based physics (mechanics). Responsible for two sections of roughly 20 students each. Graded for two sections of the lecture. Assisted students in the department's tutorial center.
1 Semester	PHYS-117R. Recitation instructor for Second semester, introductory, calculus based physics (electricity and magnetism). Responsible for two sections of roughly 20 students each. Graded for two sections of the lecture. Assisted students in the department's tutorial center.
3 semesters	ASTR-101L. Night laboratory for introductory Astronomy for non-science majors. One section of roughly 30 students meeting once per week. Experiments involved viewing astronomical objects with small telescopes (weather permitting). Also included atomic spectra studies.
3 semesters	ASTR-101P. Planetarium laboratory for introductory Astronomy for non-science majors. Two sections of roughly 150 students meeting every other week. We use the Morehead Planetarium to perform some basic measurements of astronomical phenomina.
1 Semester	PHYS-331. Teaching assistant for Numerical Techniques. One section of 25 students meeting twice a week in the computer lab. Assist students with the implementation of numerical algorithms using Matlab.

	5+ years
Programming Languages:	C, C++, Borland CBuilder 5, IRAF/script, IRAF/SPP, IRAF/IGI, PERL, AWK, HTML
Systems Experience:	Sun Solaris 7 - 9 on SPARC platforms, Redhat Linux 6.1 - 9.0 and WinNT/2000 on Intel x86 archetectures.