Jason Steffen

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Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Expertise: Astronomy, Exoplanets, Cosmology, Dark matter and energy, Gravitation, General physics

Biography

Jason Steffen works in the field of exoplanets — planets that orbit distant stars. He has been a member of the science team for NASA's Kepler mission. He continues to analyze data from that mission to understand the properties of planets and planetary systems. He also worked on projects related to dark matter, dark energy, and gravity.

Steffen is originally from Utah and attended graduate school in Seattle. Before coming to UNLV, he was the Lindheimer Fellow at Northwestern University and the Brinson Fellow at Fermilab outside of Chicago.

In addition to his work in astrophysics, he is known for the Steffen Method, a procedure to efficiently board passengers on an airplane.

Education

Ph.D. in Physics, University of Washington, Seattle
B.S. in Physics and Mathematic, Weber State University

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Jason Steffen In The News

Political divide briefly fades as crowds watch Artemis II launch

For the first time in more than half a century, Americans watched astronauts blast off for the moon again Wednesday as Artemis II lifted off, a milestone for space exploration that also sparked a rare moment of national unity.

What’s the best cabin layout for aircraft evacuation?

Ars Technica

The key is to evenly distribute elderly passengers, who move more slowly, among the aircraft cabins.

EasyJet launches slimline seats with two inches of extra legroom — but there’s a catch

Metro UK

They’ll only be available on the new models of planes easyJet is introducing (for aviation nerds, that’s the Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft, of which there’ll be just over 200).

This is the quickest way to board a plane — but airlines don’t use it

Metro UK

Confusing calls for ‘priority boarders’ and numbered groups can make the process drag on — so it might surprise travelers to learn that there’s actually a tried and tested boarding system proven to make the process quicker.