About James

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Research Scientist

SETI Institute

PhD in Astronomy, University of Florida, 2000

 James De Buizer is a professional astronomer and former aeronaut, as well as a humanist and skeptic. In his early career, he was a Research Fellow at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and Gemini Observatory, both located in Chile. In 2008 he began working on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), which was the world’s largest flying astronomical observatory. He was the Assistant Director for Science at the SOFIA Science Center when the project concluded in 2023. Presently, Jim is a Research Scientist at the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute.  

 James has published research in several areas of observational astronomy and astrophysics from objects in our solar system to distant galaxies, though the formation of high mass stars is his field of expertise. He also has extensive experience with infrared astronomical instrumentation.  James regularly gives invited lectures on his research to university faculty and at professional astronomical societies and meetings. He is also passionate about giving science outreach talks to the public. 

• High Mass Star Formation and Evolution 
• Circumstellar Disks (Accretion, Transitional, and Debris)  
• Maser Emission in Star Forming Regions
• The Supernova 1987A Remnant
• Mid-Infrared Astronomical Instrumentation