This page is out of date. When I get around to fixing it, I will remove this message.
Go here for my work/research page. You may also view my CV/résumé in [Postscript] [PDF] or [Plain text]
The best way to reach me is by email:
Or, if you prefer:
Mark Haun
23844 27th Pl W
Brier, WA 98036
Astronomy. When
the midwest's climate permits, I enjoy observing with binoculars or
my telescope, a 12.5 inch f/6 truss-tube Newtonian that I built in
1998-99. Some special observing interests are
the aurora, meteor showers,
and artificial satellites.
Check out some of these useful astronomy links:
The Messier Objects Database, provided by the University of Arizona chapter of SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space).
Want to observe comets? Try Seiichi Yoshida's weekly information about bright comets.
The Solar Terrestrial Dispatch
is a good starting place for learning more about the Sun-Earth
connection and the
aurora (northern/southern lights).
Backcountry Hiking and Camping.
I try to get away to the southern hills of Illinois or the forests of
upper Michigan or Wisconsin every year in the spring and fall, but natural
surroundings were obviously not the main factor in my choice of grad
school.
Photography.
When visiting scenic places, I enjoy improving my photography skills.
Five summers ago I explored a good-sized chunk of the Willamette National
Forest in the wonderful state of Oregon. Visit my
waterfall page to see pictures of these plus
other waterfalls in the midwest and the tropics. I also like to experiment
with low light and astrophotography; see the Pohnpei tour below.
Travel and volunteer work. While in college I had the opportunity to
serve as a high school teacher at the Pohnpei Seventh-day Adventist
School in the Federated States of Micronesia, teaching computers and some
music and math. I really grew attached to the place and the people there,
and would love to go back some day.
Take a tour of beautiful Pohnpei! (many more pictures)
Cool fact: Pacific islanders were settling the far-flung islands
of the Pacific in ocean-going canoes long before Columbus stumbled onto
America. Check out the
Polynesian Voyaging
Society at the University of Hawaii for more on this often-overlooked
history.
Designing and building scientific
instruments. For me this is a natural merging of my appreciation for
nature and my engineering background. Past projects have included a
long period seismometer, a recording rainfall-rate gauge,
a smart "barn door" star-tracking camera
mount, a couple of VLF
radio receivers, two automatic aurora
detectors, and a 12.5" f/6 truss-tube
Newtonian telescope.
The aurora detectors were my senior design project at Walla Walla College, and one is still operating near Walla Walla, Washington. Coupled with some custom software and a mailing list running on my Linux box, this system can wake you up at night when the northern lights expand unusually far south. There is quite a bit of online documentation now:
Linux system
administration on my personal computer, an AMD Athlon box named
angwin.
Slashdot: "News for nerds. Stuff that matters."
Dilbert Zone
The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
The Storm Prediction Center products page,
a new favorite of mine since moving to the Midwest.
Today's Space Weather: What's going on right now in the
Sun-Earth environment.
Interval Signals Online, a neat collection of shortwave
broadcast IDs.
Get the lowdown on one
of the Net's most widespread urban legends --
the Craig Shergold story. Or, perhaps you have
heard the
Rocket Car / Darwin Award legend.
Another web page devoted to
urban legends. This one has
a large database complete with a search engine. Learn about the AIDS
needle scare, the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe, the FCC modem/internet tax,
and more! Impress your friends.
