ABOUT

Dr. Daniel O’Conner Peluso (Dan) is an astrophysicist, educator, and interdisciplinary artist. Based in Vallejo, California, Dan’s work blends his passions for astrophysics, citizen science, education, and music to explore how connecting public audiences and students directly with authentic astronomical data can expand participation in and contribute to professional research, strengthen public trust in science, and improve our wellbeing through awe experienced from gaining a cosmic perspective.

He currently serves as an educator and research associate at Griffin Technology Academies, where he teaches astrophysics, physics, and songwriting while leading research on citizen-science-based astronomy learning. Dan is also an Affiliate Researcher with the SETI Institute, where he continues to collaborate with the Unistellar citizen science team and participate in ongoing SETI Institute education initiatives. He co-leads national professional-development workshops with the American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA) and the NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Education Team, helping educators and students learn how to engage directly with the Rubin Observatory and upcoming data from its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Dan also represents SkyMapper—a decentralized global telescope network with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the SETI Institute—and has built international collaborations connecting astronomers, educators, and Aboriginal groups in Australia through his participation at the International Astronomical Union Symposium 399 on Indigenous Astronomy in the Space Age.

Dan earned his Ph.D. in Astrophysics (2024) from the University of Southern Queensland, where his dissertation Democratizing & Enhancing Exoplanet Research with the Unistellar Citizen Science Network & Astronomy Modeling Instruction pioneered methods for exoplanet research that united professional astronomers, citizen scientists, and educators in publishable research. His studies have produced multiple peer-reviewed publications, including his first-author paper in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (PASP) on the Unistellar Exoplanet Campaign and the confirmation of the exoplanet TIC 139270665 b in The Astronomical Journal, which notably included sixteen high-school students as co-authors (see Sky & Telescope article). He also has a first-author paper, Astronomy Modeling Instruction with Exoplanets, currently under peer review with the Journal of Science Teacher Education (JSTE). These efforts led to the creation of the Astronomy Modeling with Exoplanets (AME) curriculum now used in teacher-training programs with AMTA and the Rubin Observatory education team. Through collaborations with various international collaborators, Dan continues to develop observation experiences with global telescope networks that blend astrophysical research, education, and public participation.

A passionate communicator, Dan has produced science documentaries, educational videos, and live performances that merge astronomy, storytelling, and music. His award-winning documentary, The Quest for Another Earth (2014), received honors from the American Geophysical Union and the Goldschmidt Conference. Under his music project Conner Eko, he writes and records original songs inspired by cosmic themes and mental-health awareness. In 2025, he performed his new unreleased original song “Our Skies” at the International Astronomical Union Symposium 399 – Indigenous Astronomy in the Space Age at the University of Melbourne, highlighting his work connecting modern astrophysics with Indigenous star knowledge. That same year, he was named a semi-finalist for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program for his proposal Celestial Harmonies, an international project aimed at blending pop music, cultural astronomy, and citizen science. His last singles Standing Up and A Farewell to Arms (2025) and future music projects seek to extend his vision of connecting science, art, literature, the human condition, empathy, and the cosmic perspective.

Across all of his work, Dan is driven by one goal: to democratize science and discovery, and share the cosmic perspective with everyone. Through citizen science, inclusive education, and creative communication, he seeks to show that astronomy is not only a science of stars and planets, but a shared human story of curiosity, awe, connection, and wonder that can be experienced by everyone.