Me


I was wearing the hat under duress.	High-brow relaxation - note the quality chips...	The sophisticated Caltech post-doc look.	Lee by herself.	...and at the Grand Canyon

Two portraits of me by	... my lovely cousins	Lee and me.	Working on the beach with Rob	The old office in Durham

Thomas' christening	Hawaii surfer-dude look	Boy-in-a-backpack	Indoor luge	Quality childcare

Quality childcare II	Little boy	Happy boy	Got you both...	Give me a drink

...the new office	At work...	enjoying Gemini	start of the night	Night-time on Mauna Kea

I first came to Durham as a graduate student in 1989 after completing an M.A. in Cambridge. I spent three and a half years here on my thesis (Gravitational Lensing by Rich Clusters) with Richard Ellis as my advisor. In 1993, having submitted my thesis, I left Durham for sunny California (my home state) to take up a NATO Advanced Fellowship in the Physics, Math and Astronomy Division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. I spent 18 months at Caltech before moving my fellowship 2 miles up the hill to the hipper surroundings of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington on Santa Barbara Street. When my NATO Fellowship finished I stayed on at OCIW as a Carnegie Fellow for a year and then took up a PPARC Advanced Fellowship back in Durham at the beginning of 1996. Lee and I got married in June 1996. In 1998 I took up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship which was renewed until 2008 when I moved onto the academic staff of the Physics Department. I was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize Fellowship in 2001 in recognition of my research and a Chair in the Department of Physics at Durham in 2004. Lee and I had a son, Thomas in February 2004 and another son, William, in September 2005. I am currently a Professor of Physics in the Institute for Computational Cosmology within the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics and Head of Astronomy at Durham.

Research Career

2011-2013		Leverhulme Research Fellow, Durham University.
2009-		Head of Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University.
2004-		Personal Chair, Department of Physics, Durham University.
2001-2003		Philip Leverhulme Prize Fellow, University of Durham.
1998-2008		Royal Society University Research Fellow, Durham University.
1996-1998		PPARC Advanced Fellow, University of Durham.
1995		Carnegie Fellow, The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
1993-1995		NATO Advanced Fellow, California Institute of Technology.
1989-1993		Ph.D. (Astronomy), University College, University of Durham.
1987-1989		M.A. (Nat. Sci.), Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge.

2006-		International Astronomical Union Member.
1998		Honorary Visiting Fellow in the School of Physics, University of New South Wales.
1996-1997		Visiting Research Associate at the Carnegie Observatories.

External Committees and Posts

2011-2013		Member of the Editorial Board of Galaxies Open Access Journal.
2003-		Member of the UK ALMA Oversight Committee.
2001-		External Project Scientist for SCUBA-2.
2011-2012		Deputy Chair of the STFC Astronomy Grants Panel.
2012		ESO OPC Panel Chair.
2011		Member at Large on the ESO OPC.
2007-2010		Member of the STFC Astronomy Grants Panel.
2009		Advisor to the ESO OPC.
2008-2009		Member of the VLA/VLBA Referee Panel.
2007-2009		Member of the JCMT Time Allocation Committee.
2008		Member of the JCMT International Time Allocation Panel.
2007		Member of the STFC Far-IR and Submm Advisory Panel.
2006		Member of the ASTRONET EU FP6 ERA-Net.
2005-2008		Member of the Royal Society Conference and Short Visit Grants Panel.
2005		Member of the JCMT International Review Committee.
2005		Member of the Cycle 2 Spitzer Space Telescope Peer Review Panel.
2004-2008		Member of the JWST-MIRI Oversight Committee.
2004-2007		Member of the PPARC Astronomy Grants Committee (Observational Sub-panel).
2004-2005		Member of the JCMT Survey Steering Group.
2003		International Referee for the Subaru Time Allocation Panel.
2003		Member of the Cycle 13 Hubble Space Telescope Peer Review Panel.
2001		Member of the PPARC Oversight Committee.
1999-2001		Member of the UK Infrared Telescope Board.
1999-2000		Member of the Astronomy Panel of the PPARC Long-Term Science Review ("Vision" Panel).
1998-2001		Member of the UK Infrared Telescope Time Allocation Committee.
1998		Member of the GBFC Advisory Panel - "Astronomy in the Next Decade".

Other stuff...

[Pix 1] [Pix 2]	[Pix 1] [Pix 2] [Pix 3] [Pix 4] [Pix 5]	[White water] [White water]
Various mosaics, some in situ.	Pix from the Maldives [11/00].	Misc pix.

[Ridge from Subaru] [Mayall 4m] [North Kohola] [Scott making history] [Rob bitching about HDF850.1] [Rob contemplating infinity] [Wet boy]	[Andrew "Observing"] [Check out that chin] [Old photo from CTIO] [Scott on the wall]	[Scott narging, Cozumel] [Pyramid, Chichen Itza] [Pillar, Chichen Itza] [Scott+Pyramid] [Sink hole]
Pix from observing runs.	More observing runs.	Pix from Cozumel.

Various landscape pix can be found on this page.

Several posters I have worked on can be found here.

Pictures of the house can be found on this page.

...and here's a picture of my mother at the opening of a museum in Edinburgh. Pix of R&A+sprogs - [1, 2]

Ian Smail, Ian.Smail [at] durham.ac.uk
Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE
Tel: +44-191-334-3605 / Dept: +44-191-334-3520 / FAX: +44-191-334-3645

IAN SMAIL

Research Career

External Committees and Posts

Other stuff...