About

I have always lived in cities where the lights tend to obscure the stars. This may be why I appreciate a Planetarium theater. I was born in Toronto, Ontario and I grew up in Athens, Greece where my mother claims I showed a great interest in how stars form from the age of five. To understand better how the universe works I studied Physics (University of Athens). My honors thesis was on the planet Neptune, which spurred me to cross the Atlantic to get a masters degree in Astronomy (Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia) and a Ph.D. in Astrophysics (University of Waterloo). From 1998-1999, I was involved in an infrared satellite called WIRE as a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Since September 1999, I have been teaching Astronomy at various levels at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and, in 2007, I became director of the UWM Manfred Olson Planetarium. In 2014, I was selected by NASA to be an Airborne Astronomy Ambassador and to spend 20 hours in the stratosphere on SOFIA, the largest moving observatory in the world. In 2017, I was chosen for the University of Wisconsin System Regents Academic Staff Excellence Award. I am very proud to have shared the beauty and elegance of the cosmos with over 150,000 members of our community.

Classes Taught

  • Designed and taught Astronomy for Pre-education Majors (ASTRON 185) annually since 2007.
  • Designed and taught Searching for Life in the Cosmos, a course for MKE Scholars (high-achieving students of color) in Fall 2021.
  • Consulted for Robin Mello’s Theatre 260 Storytelling: Stories of the Stars, in which students addressed climate change, dark skies, lunar light, and the scale of the universe, in Fall 2021.
  • Co-designed and co-taught Tale of Scale: How Big is the Universe, an interdisciplinary course between Theatre and Physics that culminated in student-centered planetarium performances for the public, in Fall 2015 and 2016.
  • Designed and taught Astronomy for College for Kids and Teens every summer from 2008–2018.

Research

My interests include space exploration, DEI in science, science communication, and how culture intersects with astronomy.

Communicating the Universe: Integrating Design-thinking in a Transdisciplinary Course to Support Learning in Physics and Theatre; Uilhlein Trust Fund; $5,000; December 2020 to June 2022; J. Creighton

Tale of Scale; NASA Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium Higher Education Incentives (HEI); $18,194; 07/01/2016 to 06/30/17; R. Mello (PI), J. Creighton (co-PI).

Tale of Scale; RGI $48,989; 07/01/2015 to 12/31/2016; R. Mello (PI), J. Creighton.

Research experience for teachers; $411,000; 07/01/2011 to 02/28/2015 R. Wood, K. Murphy, J. Creighton, NSF PHY-1061811.

Frontiers of multi-messenger astronomy; RGI; $1,742,530; 09/01/2009 – 08/31/2011; B. Allen, L. Anchordoqui, P. Brady (PI), Jean Creighton, Jolien Creighton, J. Friedman, L. Parker, X. Siemens, A. Wiseman.

Interdisciplinary Research experience for teachers; NSF PHY-0653346; 04/01/2007 – 03/31/2011; R. Wood, C. Hirschmugl; J. Creighton; W. Kean.

Undergraduate Research in Astronomy and Astroparticle Physics; Decision Item Narrative (DIN); L. Anchordoqui, P. Brady, Jean Creighton, Jolien Creighton, J. Friedman, L. Parker, X. Siemens, A. Wiseman.

Refereed Papers, Presentations, and Publications

DeVasto, D. and Creighton, J. (2018) Inspired by the cosmos: strategies for public engagement in non-policy context in Science Communication, Vol. 40, Issue 6 [Publication]. https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/3BGzqUtYYywG2FtCMqdb/full

Creighton, J. & Martell, S. T. (2012). Organizational Schemes as Aids for Understanding Astronomical Content. National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) 2012 Annual Meeting Indianapolis, IN, March 25-28, 2012 [Accepted Presentation].

Creighton, J. & Martell, S. T. (2011). Shooting Stars and Matching Games: Audiences’ Understanding of Scientific Terms and Concepts in a Planetarium. National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) 2011 Annual Meeting Orlando, FL, April 3-6, 2011.  [Accepted presentation]

Martell, S. T., Herrenkohl, L. R., Ash, D., Falk, J. H., Creighton, J., Mai, T., Drame, E. R., & McCreedy, D. (2010, March 23). Intersections of science education research and practice and issues of access, equity, and culture. National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) 2010 Annual Meeting Philadelphia, PA, March 21 – 24, 2010. [Accepted Presentation]

Johnstone, D., Wilson, C., Moriarty-Schieven, G., Giannakopoulou-Creighton, J., & Gregersen E.  Large-area mapping at 850 microns. I. Optimum image reconstruction from chop measurements Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 131, 505–518 (2000). [Refereed paper]

Giannakopoulou-Creighton, J., Fich, M., & Wilson, C.  Star formation in the giant HII regions of M101. Astrophysical Journal 522, 238–249 (1999). [Refereed paper]

Giannakopoulou, J., Mitchell, G., Hasegawa, T., Matthews H., & Maillard, J.-P.

The star-forming core of Monoceros R2.  Astrophysical Journal 487, 346–364 (1997). [Refereed paper]

Creighton J, & Mello R. Tale of scale: infusing astronomical concepts into an undergraduate storytelling course in Planetarian. Spring 2021; 50(1):12-18. [Publication]

Creighton, J. and DeVasto, M. (2019) Illuminating our audiences: exploring what engages and confuses them in Planetarian, Journal of the International Planetarium Society, Vol. 48, No. 3, p. 20 [Publication].

Creighton, J. and Noodin, M. (2018) One sky: connecting indigenous star stories in Planetarian, Journal of the International Planetarium Society, Vol. 47, No. 4, p. 32 [Publication].

Creighton, J. DeVasto, D. and Gallagher, S. (2017) Illuminating the Aurora in Planetarian, Journal of the International Planetarium Society, Vol. 46, No. 3, p. 8 [Publication].

Creighton, J.  (2013) Monsters in the Family Tree.  Planetarian. 42, 42-48.

Creighton, J. & Mello, R. (2012) Odyssey under the Stars: Homer’s inspiration at the UW-Milwaukee’s Planetarium. Planetarian. 41, 16.

Creighton, J. & Martell, S. T. (2010) Constellations for all: studying identification techniques. Planetarian 39 (2), 20–25. [Paper]