Dr. Bryan Butler is a staff scientist at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, currently supporting operations of the Very Large Array (VLA) and VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array) within the New Mexico Operations Department of NRAO. He also spends part of his time developing the design concepts for the construction and operation of the next generation VLA (ngVLA). His primary research involves using long-wavelength (sub-millimeter to meter wavelengths) observations to measure the radio emission and reflection properties of planetary atmospheres and surfaces of bodies in our solar system.
Dr. Butler earned a B.S. from Utah State University in 1989 with a double major in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and minors in Math and Physics. He completed both an M.S. (1991) and a Ph.D. (1994) in Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology, with a Ph.D. minor in Computer Science. He was a Jansky Postdoctoral Researcher for NRAO from 1994-1996, and has been a scientific staff member since then, working in various areas, including many in management.