Prof. Stephen Kane is a cooperating faculty member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UC Riverside and is a faculty member of the Department of Earth Science. His research focuses on detection, characterization, and habitability of exoplanets using ground and space-based telescope facilities. Stephen grew up in outback Australia where the impressive view of the night sky first sparked his interest in astronomy. He became particularly interested in planetary science at the time of the Voyager fly-bys of the outer planets of our solar system.
Stephen started working on exoplanets in 1995 and continues to research a broad range of exoplanet and planetary science topics. He got his Ph.D. at the University of Tasmania, and later had postdoctoral appointments at the University of St. Andrews and the University of Florida. Afterwards, he became a Research Scientist at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Caltech, and a professor at San Francisco State University.