Dr. Alex Filippenko

Alex Filippenko, PhD, is the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor in the Physical Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a leading authority on exploding stars, active galaxies, black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and the expansion of the Universe. Recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences and one of the world’s most highly cited astronomers, he has won numerous awards for his research, and his team’s discovery of cosmic “antigravity” was named the “Top Science Breakthrough of 1998” by the editors of Science magazine. An extraordinary educator, Dr. Filippenko has won the highest teaching awards at UC Berkeley, where the student body has voted him the “Best Professor” in 6 of the past 14 years. In 2006, he was named the Carnegie/CASE National Professor of the Year among doctoral institutions. He has appeared in numerous TV documentaries, including The Universe series on the History Channel, has produced four astronomy video courses with The Teaching Company, and coauthored an award-winning textbook. He has seen 12 total solar eclipses, joining Wilderness Travel eclipse trips in Peru, Thailand, the Caribbean, Turkey, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Polynesia (twice), and Australia.

Upcoming Trips:

Total Solar Eclipse of 2013: Morocco to Cape Verde, October 22-November 6, 2013