Dr John D Bernard

Dr John D Bernard.... Began my astronomy interest in 1961 with the Boy Scout merit badge in Astronomy. Graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BS in Science Education and worked for two years as an Astronomy Lab Instructor and Observatory Assistant at Melton Observatory at USC. Taught high school physics and chemistry for 4 years while serving as the last Planetarium Director at the Charleston Museum before it was condemned. Was awarded the first South Carolina Science Teacher of the Year by the SC Academy of Science in 1970. Served as a Team Leader on USC's1970 Total Solar Eclipse Team along with 20 high school students from Lower Richland High School in Columbia, SC. Earned 2 more graduate degrees in computer science and taught CS at Clemson and a local technical college for 20 years. Spent my last 15 years teaching (retiring 2008} as the Director of the Jupiter Space Station Radio Observatory in Pendleton, SC. www.jupiterspacestation.org In 2017 now serving as Director of the 2017-18 SC Total Solar Eclipse Group leading 6 teams statewide, partially made up of my 1970 High School Students. Have published over a dozen papers in Optical and Radio Astronomy. As an Astronomer and hobby have successfully shot 6 eclipses from 1970 to 2017. Am presently in the final construction and FAA approval of a 14' aircraft to photograph the 2017 solar eclipse in SC in clear air. All this and many more details can be found on the JSS website [www.jupiterspacestation.org].