Paul A MasonPaul A. Mason is a Professor at New Mexico State University and the Director of Picture Rocks Observatory and Astrobiology Research Center. He obtained two B.S. degrees from the University of Arizona--Astronomy and Physics & Mathematics, where he fouded the University of Arizona astronomy club. He received a Masters in Physics from Louisiana State University and a PhD in Astronomy from Case Western Reserve University, where he received the Towson Memorial Scholarship. Professor Mason has been a teacher and researcher at the University of Texas at El Paso and New Mexico State University, Dona Ana Community College, and received the prestigious David Lovelock teaching award. His research includes observations of accreting white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. These observations utilized both ground-based and spaced based telescopes fromradio to gamma-rays. Most recently, he has been theoretically investigating planetary habitability constrained by high energy radiation, especially concerned with the potential for habitability of Earth-like planets orbiting moderately close binary stars. His wrote the seminal paper on enhanced habitability in binary star systems with J. Zuluaga, P. Cuartas and J. Clark who have an online habitability calculator http: //bhmcalc.net/ and most recently, Mason Biermann introduced the Supergalactic Habitable Zone concept. Read More Read Less