Rate My Professor Christopher Walker

Christopher K. Walker is a Professor of Astronomy and Astronomer at Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, holding these positions since 2003. He also serves as Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Associate Professor of Optical Sciences, and Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Walker earned his Ph.D. in Astronomy, M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Arizona. His career at the University of Arizona spans from 1983 to 1988 and 1991 to the present, with prior experience at the California Institute of Technology from 1988 to 1991, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1983, and TRW Aerospace from 1981 to 1983. He is a member of the Graduate Faculty and participates in the Program in Applied Mathematics.

Walker's research interests encompass star and planet formation, the life cycle of the interstellar medium, astronomical instrumentation, balloon-borne telescopes, space-based telescopes, and CubeSats, with a focus on galactic astronomy, instrumentation and detectors, stars and stellar astrophysics, star formation and the interstellar medium, and terahertz astronomy. He authored the textbook Terahertz Astronomy (CRC Press, 2015) and has co-authored over 130 papers, including Kloosterman et al., Hot Electron Bolometer Heterodyne Receiver with a 4.7 THz Quantum Cascade Laser as a Local Oscillator, Applied Physics Letters 102, 011123 (2013); Bussmann et al., A CO (J=3-2) Outflow Survey of the Elias 29 Region, Astrophysical Journal 657, L33 (2007); Hedden et al., Star Formation in the Northern Cloud Complex of NGC 2264, Astrophysical Journal 645, 345 (2006); and Kulesa et al., Large-Scale CO and [CI] Emission in the Rho Ophiuchi Molecular Cloud, Astrophysical Journal 625, 194 (2005). Walker has contributed to instruments for the Heinrich Hertz Telescope and Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory, and leads efforts on missions such as the GUSTO balloon-borne observatory and CatSat CubeSat. He teaches courses including Life in the Universe (ASTR 202), Physical Universe (ASTR 170B), and Radio Astronomy (ASTR 585).