NuSTAR EA - Tyson Harty
Dr. Tyson Harty is a science teacher at Jasper County High School in Monticello, Georgia. With a Ph.D. in Zoology (2010) and a M.S. in Biomechanics (2000), both from Oregon State University, and a B.S. in Zoology (1995) from Michigan State University, Dr. Harty has been fascinated in science research and education for the past 20 years, ever since he built a computer-interfaced robotic arm for his 8th grade science fair project. In his career, he has conducted research on a broad range of topics, including the population dynamics of the endangered gopher tortoise with the Georgia DNR; the biological control of pecan tree aphids with the USDA Agricultural Research Service; the communication systems of prairie dogs in the Colorado Rockies; the behavior of free-living spotted hyenas in Kenya; the biological control of robots; the impacts of environmental policies in the European Union; and the biomechanics and evolution of jumping in carnivorans. In 1998, he trained with the NASA Ames Academy for Space Exploration and worked as a research biologist at NASA Ames Research Center to design an altered gravity simulator for astronauts. In 2000, he co-founded a high-tech startup company, 3 Sigma Robotics, in Corvallis, Oregon to design intelligent devices and robotic systems.
In 2010, Dr. Harty participated in a NASA-funded professional workshop called “Georgians Experience Astronomy Research in Schools,” designed to “gear” up high schools to teach astronomy as new state requirements call for all Georgia students to take four years of science to graduate. He is a past recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (1999) and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (1999), and was a United States Presidential Scholar in 1993. While he hails originally from the Hoosier state, Dr. Harty currently lives on a farm in the rural Piedmont region of Georgia with his wife Jehan, son Ryker Hawke, and daughter Faraday West.
He enjoys kayaking, ultimate frisbee, science fiction, and building stuff.
