Job:	Post-doctoral research assistant, University of Oxford
Born:	Elderslie, Scotland, 1969

I went to Glasgow University in 1986 to study Mathematics and Physics but quickly found that large parts of the Physics course seemed very boring compared to the appeal of learning about the stars and galaxies which make up our Universe, and our night sky - so I changed my course to obtain a joint degree in Astronomy and Mathematics which Glasgow offered. After that I completed my PhD at Glasgow, specialising in solar physics. I also worked at Glasgow University for 3 years before they obviously got fed-up with me, and so I moved down to Oxford University to inflict my sense of humour on the people here.

Currently I study the various aspects of our Sun's behaviour, using a variety of different physics techniques from standard spectroscopy to artificial intelligence models to the physics of snow avalanches.

Most Famous in Solar Physics For: Not attending a conference in the USA! Having turned up at the conference venue, taken part in the opening social event and met lots of people, by the opening morning of the conference Keith was in the hospital with a broken jaw. Not that I had a fight with one of my colleagues, but I did come off second best in a disagreement with the pavement. However, the number of get well cards I got was far greater than the amount of interest any of my work at that conference would have attracted, so it wasn't such a bad career move!

Away from work, what do I do?: I have several sports and hobbies that I try and keep up an active interest in, such as golf, snooker, tennis and squash. I also enjoy walking in the Scottish hills, although moving to Oxford certainly hasn't helped me in that respect. I enjoy travel and carrying out research in such an international subject as solar physics has certainly helped me travel, funding several trips to different parts of the USA as well as Germany, Norway, Sweden, France and Greece.

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