Taking back my sense of belonging with new planet results!

There's nothing that takes away your sense of belonging more than officially being told, "No one wants to talk to you." But I have refused to go quietly and give up being part of the group.

Today I have presented new results that planets migrate into their stars. (See http://arxiv.org/abs/1309.3283 and http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.5197.) I present evidence of planets polluting stars with planetary material. I have been deriving these results from data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft as well as ground-based observatories. I have been doing this all alone while all the time visiting astronomers and begging not to be kept out of the thrills of the discovery of planets, just because one private observatory reneged early on my appointment for reasons so funny I took up stand-up comedy to learn how to tell the story. (I have posted videos of me presenting the humorous story, “Laugh at my date, laugh at my boss.”)

Astronomers are finding new planets which could be places for new life in the universe, but one astronomer has been struggling to get support just to start his own family. With two successful papers now on public display, I launch my campaign to “Return the Missing Participant” and ask for the public's support of me being an astronomer able to make a long-delayed return to being a fully participating astronomer.

I am struggling to be a part of finding the planets that show how giant, medium, and small planets migrate differently in planetary systems. I have been kept out of being an author on planet-finding publications that use my work, but I am willing to take a public stand to demand that no observatory group can ever refuse a member from staying involved. My mottos are, “Participation is the purpose of science. Participation is the purpose of life.” Every work-place bully wants silence, but I will make the noise it takes to get the science community to support me staying involved, because I really do believe that the right of a scientist to participate is something worth living or dying for.

Please support me by following my blog where I will not only discuss the migration of planet into destruction by falling into their stars, but also present my struggle for belonging in the astronomy community.

Acceptance and involvement are universal values. We believe in helping everyone feel that they can belong. Fighting for participation is a worthy cause for which I am willing to devote my life. Supporting my participation is a worthy value for which I am willing to go to the public and ask for help.

Support the "Return of the Missing Participant" Campaign!

There's nothing that can disrupt your sense of belonging more than an official letter stating, "No one wants to talk to you." But I am not the kind of person to let a whole group of people not talk to me, especially when I was the first scientist to contribute to this observatory, and especially when this is a UCSB-affiliated observatory that is supposed to be a professional Science Observatory. In academic research, no respectable university-affiliated observatory can ever be allowed to act this way. I challenge UCSB to require that all UCSB scientists encourage the careers of everyone else, rather than allowing the name of UCSB to be associated with unprofessional behavior.

I am announcing my new campaign, "The Return of the Missing Participant," as the name of my campaign for participation. I am campaigning to the science community to require support for standards of encouraging involvement. Scientists must demand that scientists always be willing to work together. Scientists must welcome and never block other scientists from making every contribution they can towards finishing and presenting their research together.

I will start with the "Showdown at the Planets Conference", where I am seeking to have Documentary Filmmakers attend as media to film me facing off eye-to-eye with the scientists made by their bosses to keep me from participating in the science I started. I am taking out newspaper announcements to attract filmmakers. I hope to document my campaign to return to science by filming my years-long struggle to get back into astronomy after having been expelled before my appointment expired. I want the public to see me talking face to face with the scientists who have kept me out, and who have not let me finish my work with the rest of the group. I demand credit where credit is due. I demand participation in the projects where my participation is due, so I can have the chance to have credit due me just like all the other UCSB scientists at the observatory.  All the other UCSB astronomers came to the observatory after me, but all have been made by the Directors to finish our work without letting me be involved. Instead, I've been officially told to stay away and not even apply for observing time. I will not stand for this, but need your help showing me protest this obstruction.

In addition to seeking filmmakers, I ask help to give a public talks in and around Mountain View, California prior to the conference, to seek long-term support for my "Return of the Missing Participant" Campaign to take back my career in science. After six years of unemployment caused by the UCSB Observatory not only reneging early on my appointment but also blocking me from having any reasonable record upon which to job search, I am reaching out to the public for support for me to continue my research into how scattered giant planets are sent down to their destruction into the star.

I have prepared for giving this talk through comedy and storytelling, because it really is a funny story how my billionaire boss bungled my appointment. You can follow me on YouTube, where my latest comedy is a humorous presentation of my NASA proposal, at http://youtu.be/NV_5ZKACEmM and my latest storytelling is at http://youtu.be/w-XBs3P5H4g.

I don't have the support of anyone other than my own dwindling life savings to attend the Kepler Science Conference November 3-8, in Mountain View, California. I seek support to go to the conference, and also support to speak in California the week beforehand (Oct 29 to Nov 1). If you can help with support or filming, please contact me through this blog.