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.

Dan currently is a Research Scientist with the SETI Institute, where he collaborates with the Unistellar citizen science team and SkyMapper to support SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence), citizen science networks, and related education initiatives. At the SETI Institute, he is currently funded under the STRIDE grant where he and his colleague, Dr. Lauren Sgro, are working on making their project “Celestial Harmonies: Connecting Skies, Cultures and Communities” a reality. Celestial Harmonies, inspired by Dan’s 2025 U.S. Fulbright proposal and semi-finalist related work, will launch Lauren and Dan into partnership with Indigenous communities in Australia (Djaara) and Mexico (Mayan) to expand participation in citizen science and astronomy through culturally grounded engagement using a Two-Eyed Seeing framework. Recently, Dan also accepted a new appointment as Assistant Professor of Astronomy (Tenure Track) at Los Medanos College where he will (Aug. 2026) teach college astronomy to undergraduate students in a planetarium setting utilizing innovative teaching techniques, such as Modeling Instruction, citizen science, and other research based techniques for activing learning. Dan also 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 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 astronomy education paper, Astronomy Modeling Instruction with Exoplanets, currently under peer review with a leading science education journal. 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. Dan is also a singer-songwriter and music producer and 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, discovery, and empathy and share the cosmic perspective with everyone. Through citizen science, inclusive education, and creative communication and art, 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.