Biography:


Peter Martin received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Toronto before going on to the University of Cambridge to receive his Ph.D., and then coming back to Toronto as a professor, where he has been since. He was the first faculty member of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) and is currently the Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UofT, and the director of the David Dunlap Observatory.

His current research is on interstellar matter and its relationship to stellar evolution (the births, life cycles and deaths of stars). Specifically, understanding the basic physical processes, incorporating them in astrophysical simulations and analysis and interpretation of data. He is also a permanent member of the scientific management of the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey. Other topics of interest and research include the evolution of interstellar dust, the heating and cooling of diffuse gas, basic nebular astrophysics as well as millimetre and submillimetre observations of galactic dust. Professor Martin is also active in computational astrophysics and observational astronomy, traveling all over to world to gather data.

He is also actively involved in outreach, having contributed to over 160 papers, supervised over 15 postdoctoral students and over 2 dozen graduate students. He has appeared on television and on BBC radio, and has taught both younger students as well as members of Elderhostel.