John A. Blackwell

Instructor in Science
Director of the Grainger Observatory
Appointed
2004
John Blackwell

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds." — Edward Abbey

Education

B.S. Daniel Webster College

M.S. James Cook University - AU

Biography

Mr. Blackwell has degrees in aviation management, flight operations and astronomy. He spent more than 15 years as an engineer in the early years of the internet’s growth, designing, building and testing routers, repeaters and technology for high-speed video.

Mr. Blackwell started at Exeter in 2004 as director of the Grainger Observatory and as an astronomy teacher. He teaches all of the astronomy courses, the senior studies course Science and Religion, physics, and epistemology. Outside of the classroom, he is the faculty adviser to Exeter radio station WPEA, the Archery Club, the Astronomy Club and the Meteorology Club. From 2011 to 2015 he was the Science Department chair. Mr. Blackwell travels for both educational outreach and astronomical research and has visited Japan, Hawaii, China, England, France, Iceland, Finland and Russia in this capacity. He hosts a biennial astronomy education conference at the Academy.

Mr. Blackwell enjoys a wide range of hobbies and activities including hiking, aviation, astrophotography, gourmet cooking, model building and playing drums. His personal research involves the astrophysics of cataclysmic variable stars, active galactic nuclei and research-based science education, all topics in which he publishes regularly. He also works on observatory, optical instrument design and amateur radio activities.