About me
I am currently a postdoc with a joint appointment at the
Institute for
Space Sciences of the Free University, and at the
Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (
IGB). I
study the ecological impact of light pollution, and am currently
focused on quantifying the light pollution produced by the city of Berlin, as part
of the
MILIEU and
Verlust der Nacht
projects.
The consistent thread running through my research career has been
imaging using extremely low levels of visible light. Previous to my
current position, I worked in particle physics as an undergraduate and
PhD student at the
Sudbury
Neutrino Observatory, and as a postdoc in radiology at the
University
of Pennsylvania.
I occasionally post news about our research and light pollution in general on twitter. You can follow me here:
About light pollution
The study of light pollution crossed a threshold around the turn of
the millenium. While previously light pollution research had focussed
mainly on the visual blocking of the stars, advances in chronobiology
revealed the impact of even low levels of light at night on many
organisms. Since then, the intensity of research into the ecological
and health impacts of light pollution has greatly increased. To
encourage further interdisciplinary study, I am maintaining a list of
scientific
light pollution research
papers and
conferences.
If you are interested in learning about light pollution generally you
can start at the
International Dark
Sky Association's website and then
explore
further here.
One paradox of my current research is that regardless of how much we
learn about the negative consequences of light pollution, many of us
still cannot help but appreciate the beauty of some of the sources of
light themselves. I have taken thousands of aerial photographs of
Berlin at night, and have collected some of the best in this gallery
of
light pollution photographs. Shown below
is Berlin's striking
Hauptbahnhof (main train station).
Short CV
| 2009 - Present |
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Postdoc) |
| |
Free University of Berlin / IGB |
| |
| 2008 - 2009 |
Family relocation to Germany |
| |
Paternity leave |
| |
Intensive German language classes |
| |
|
| 2006 - 2008 |
Postdoctoral Fellow |
| |
Department of Radiology |
| |
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA |
| |
|
| 2000 - 2006 |
PhD in Experimental Particle Physics |
| |
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA |
| |
|
| 1996 - 2000 |
BSc (honors) in Physics |
| |
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada |
Selected Publications
CCM Kyba, T Ruhtz, J Fischer, F Hölker, "
Lunar Skylight Polarization Signal Polluted by Urban Lighting," J Geophys Res 116 (
doi:10.1029/2011JD016698)
CCM Kyba, T Ruhtz, J Fischer, F Hölker, "
Cloud Coverage
Acts as an Amplifier for Ecological Light Pollution in Urban
Ecosystems," PLoS ONE
6(3):e17307.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017307 (2011)
[News coverage]
ME Daube-Witherspoon, S Surti, A Perkins,
CCM Kyba, R Wiener,
ME Werner, R Kulp and JS Karp, "
The Imaging
Performance of a LaBr3-based PET Scanner," Phys. Med. Biol. 55
45-64 (2010)
B Aharmim
et al. [SNO Collaboration], "
Measurement of the Cosmic Ray and Neutrino-Induced Muon Flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory," Phys. Rev. D, 80.1 (2009)
CCM Kyba, J Glodo, EVD van Loef, JS Karp, and KS Shah, "
Energy and Timing Response of Six Prototype Scintillators for TOF-PET," IEEE Trans Nucl Sci 55, 1404 (2008)
B Aharmim
et al. [SNO Collaboration], "
Electron energy spectra, fluxes, and daynight asymmetries of B-8 solar neutrinos from the 391-day salt phase SNO data set," Phys. Rev. C 72, 055502 (2005)
SN Ahmed
et al. [SNO Collaboration], "
Measurement of the total active B-8 solar neutrino flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory with enhanced neutral current sensitivity," Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 181301 (2003)
QR Ahmad
et al. [SNO Collaboration], "
Measurement of day and night neutrino energy spectra at SNO and constraints on neutrino mixing parameters," Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 011302 (2002)
QR Ahmad
et al. [SNO Collaboration], "
Direct evidence for neutrino flavor transformation from neutral-current interactions in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory," Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 011301 (2002)
QR Ahmad
et al. [SNO Collaboration], "
Measurement of the charged current interactions produced by B-8 solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory," Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 071301 (2001)
Other Links
Here is a list of my past and present
colleagues, some
free software I have written, and a list of
random websites that I find particularly
interesting or useful.
