Daniel C Boice

Daniel C. Boice is the principal astronomer at Scientific Studies & Consulting in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to this position, he performed cometary research sponsored by NASA and the National Science Foundation for 26 years in the Space Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute. Concurrently, he held a faculty appointment for 20 years in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses to our next generation of astronomers.

Following his childhood passion for the night sky, Dr. Boice received his BS in Physics at Brigham Young University in 1975. He obtained a PhD in astronomy at New Mexico State University in 1985. While a postdoctoral fellow in the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory and at the Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik in Garching, Germany, Dr. Boice developed computer models that have been successfully used to interpret spacecraft data and observations of many comets. He was a member of the science team for NASA’s Deep Space 1 Mission to Comet 19P/Borrelly. Additionally, Dr. Boice is keenly interested in Earth's environment, especially the urban climate including its heat island.

Dr. Boice’s professional activities include over 80 peer-reviewed research papers and several hundred conference reports. He has served as Past Chairs of the Physical Studies of Comets Working Group (International Astronomical Union) and Space Related Studies of Small Bodies of the Solar System (Committee on Space Research). An emeritus member of the American Astronomical Society, he became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2000. He has spent several years abroad teaching and working with colleagues in Germany, Japan, France, and Brazil. In recognition of his work in cometary science, asteroid 7195 Danboice was named in his honor.

Dr. Boice continues his comet research to assimilate information from ground-based observations and in situ spacecraft measurements to develop a better global understanding of comets. With co-author Prof. Thomas Hockey, Comets in the 21st Century: A Personal Guide to Experiencing the Next Great Comet! (Morgan & Claypool) was published in 2019. His second book, Solar System: Between Fire and Ice (Taylor & Francis), was published in 2021 with co-authors Prof. Hockey and Dr. Jennifer Bartlett. He is married to Panida Boonmasai with two daughters, Michelle and Stephanie; a son, Christopher; a step-son, Tam; and a granddaughter, Alison. When not engaged in all things comets, Daniel loves collecting books and rock ‘n’ roll music, board gaming, and rice farming with his family in northern Thailand.