Personal
You can contact me via e-mail at jforbes@flatironinstitute.org
Find me on twitter @redshiftless
Fun facts about me: I'm a huge fan of science fiction & board games. My favorites of the former include The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, and Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. If we're ever in the same city and you need someone for a game, count me in. My current favorite is Alchemists, though for scientists some of the game mechanics (like losing a point of reputation for having too few theories published at a conference) might hit a bit close to home. On a more serious note, I also care a lot about social justice in & out of astronomy. Lately I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject, and I've found The New Jim Crow really eye-opening - if you can get your hands on even the preface to the 10th-anniversary edition, I'd strongly recommend giving it a read.
FAQ:
Q: Where are you from?
A: The Chicago suburbs
Q: Ah, so you're used to this weather?
A: Yep, New York & Chicago are usually pretty similar weather-wise.
Q: Are you related to Steve Forbes?
A: Nope, at least not within the past few hundred years.
Q: Wait, weren't you a Hubble Fellow at UC Irvine?
A: Nope, you're thinking of Marcel Pawlowski - one of at least 3 doppelgangers I have among astronomers ~my age.
Q: How did you like Caltech?
A: I didn't get a lot of sleep, so my memory's a bit spotty.
Q: Who's the coolest celebrity you've met?
A: (just kidding no one asks that) Barack Obama when he was running for senate in 2004!
Find me on twitter @redshiftless
Fun facts about me: I'm a huge fan of science fiction & board games. My favorites of the former include The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, and Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. If we're ever in the same city and you need someone for a game, count me in. My current favorite is Alchemists, though for scientists some of the game mechanics (like losing a point of reputation for having too few theories published at a conference) might hit a bit close to home. On a more serious note, I also care a lot about social justice in & out of astronomy. Lately I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject, and I've found The New Jim Crow really eye-opening - if you can get your hands on even the preface to the 10th-anniversary edition, I'd strongly recommend giving it a read.
FAQ:
Q: Where are you from?
A: The Chicago suburbs
Q: Ah, so you're used to this weather?
A: Yep, New York & Chicago are usually pretty similar weather-wise.
Q: Are you related to Steve Forbes?
A: Nope, at least not within the past few hundred years.
Q: Wait, weren't you a Hubble Fellow at UC Irvine?
A: Nope, you're thinking of Marcel Pawlowski - one of at least 3 doppelgangers I have among astronomers ~my age.
Q: How did you like Caltech?
A: I didn't get a lot of sleep, so my memory's a bit spotty.
Q: Who's the coolest celebrity you've met?
A: (just kidding no one asks that) Barack Obama when he was running for senate in 2004!
