Dr. Bob Field supervises natural science student projects at Cal Poly where he holds
volunteer appointments as an adjunct physics professor and a research scholar in
residence. He studies the structure, composition, flows of energy and matter, and
evolution of the Sun, solid Earth, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. He is also
interested in natural history, the five billion year timeline of geophysical and
biological evolution, and the structure and evolution of the solar system. He maintains a
website at www.calpoly.edu/~rfield that includes numerous original educational articles
and resources related to his science and natural history projects. He is the author of
numerous unpublished works which will be archived in the Cal Poly Digital Commons. The
link called Global Natural Science Programs includes a list and description of programs.
Dr. Field earned his BS in physics in 1970 from Case Western Reserve University and his
MS and PhD in physics from the University of Illinois in 1972 and 1978, respectively. His
experimental solid state physics PhD thesis required him to design and build several
state-of-the-art spectroscopic instruments to acquire the data necessary to determine the
nature of several advanced materials. His twenty year career as an aerospace scientist
emphasized the design and development of high energy laser optical systems and
components, primarily for space-based, ground-based, airborne, and ocean-related military
applications.
Dr. Field worked at Rocketdyne for ten years on advanced laser projects doing systems
analysis and designing high energy laser optical, electro-optical, and opto-mechanical
systems. As a senior scientist at Schafer Corporation for ten years, he designed very low
absorption optical coatings and evaluated advanced coating technologies for uncooled high
energy laser optics, for large laser beam director primary mirrors, and for broadband and
multi-band surveillance system optics. His optics experience ranges from the ultraviolet
to the far infrared and includes hands-on design, construction, assembly and operation of
advanced instrumentation and developing and exercising applied math models.
After retiring in 1998, Dr. Field began to apply his background in physics, optics, and
systems analysis to his interests in natural science and natural history as a docent at
the Morro Bay State Park Natural History Museum and shortly thereafter at Cal Poly. He
created large poster displays on ocean science and plant evolution for display in the
Kennedy Library, Fisher Hall, and the museum. He has created and presented fifteen
90-minute slide shows on global natural science, presented occasionally at the museum,
Cal Poly, and other local venues. He has developed evolution walks in the Leaning Pine
Arboretum, on the bluff in Montana de Oro State Park, at Pismo State Beach, in the Elfin
Forest, and in the museum. His programs are aimed to challenge a general audience
interested in natural history or high school and college students and educators.
Project Proposals
Program Flyers
