John Hood

John Hood is a SkAI Data Science Preceptor, where he will be an instructor at both the University of Chicago and the City Colleges of Chicago. In addition, he will continue research at the NSF-Simons SKAI Institute for Astronomy and AI. He earned his PhD in Astrophysics from Vanderbilt University, where he focused on multi-wavelength observation of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and experimental cosmology. He is currently Co-PI of a NASA-RIA grant upgrading the equipment of a campus observatory (mount, camera, filter wheel, dome) to make it research-capable for undergraduate students and to carry out multiple projects including AGN and near earth object (NEO) monitoring.

He believes that one of the best parts about being a scientist is having the ability to do community outreach and in person science communication. Between volunteering for astronomy conversations at Adler Planetarium to visiting schools to talk with students, he loves any opportunity he gets to talk to people about exciting topics in astronomy and data science! In his free time he enjoys many hobbies from playing video games to collecting cards/comics and building gunpla.