Shane Larson

Shane Larson is an assistant professor of physics at Utah State University with a specialty in astrophysics and gravitational dynamics.

Shane grew up in eastern Oregon, and was an undergraduate at Oregon State University where he received his B.S. in Physics in 1991. He received an M.S. in Physics (1994) and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics (1999) from Montana State University. Before coming to Utah State, he was a postdoctoral scholar at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, then at the California Institute of Technology, and finally at the Center for Gravitational Wave Physics at the Pennsylvania State University. He was formerly an assistant professor of physics at Weber State University.

Shane is also an avid amateur astronomer, observing with two homebuilt telescopes, a 12.5" and a 22" Dobsonian. He lives under dark skies in Paradise, Utah with his wife, daughter and three cats. In addition to astronomy, he enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and geocaching. He also collects Legos, fountain pens, and telescopes.