Aaron Speyer is a post-baccalaureate student at the University of North Carolina at Asheville pursuing a B.S. in Applied Physics with a focus on Astrophysics. He is an alumnus of Western Carolina University with a B.S. in Finance, a B.S. in Innovation Leadership and Entrepreneurship, and a Minor in Physics.

At UNCA, Aaron is utilizing Python to research galaxy formations under the mentorship of Dr. David Wake. Aaron is a docent at UNCA’s Lookout Observatory, performing observational astronomy research and helping teach the public about the night sky. He is also a STEM Educator at the Asheville Museum of Science, where he assists with outreach, Saturday STEAM activities, and astronomy events.

In his time at WCU, Aaron has performed and published research entitled “Observing the Transit of Nearby Exoplanet Qatar-2b using CCD Photometry via Robotic Telescopes” under the mentorship of Dr. Enrique Gomez. Aaron was part of a team at WCU, guided by Dr. Gomez, that is actively researching the use of high-altitude ballooning for muon detection.

Aaron is actively working on creating Destination SPACE’s Deep Space curriculum to share with educators. Working with Destination SPACE allows him to work with like-minded individuals that are passionate about aerospace and all things STEM.