Christian Clanton

Christian Clanton has a diverse work experience in the field of data science and astronomy. Christian currently holds the position of VP, Data Science at Perennial since March 2023. Prior to this, they worked at Orbital Insight, where they held various roles including Sr. Director, Model Engineering (Data Science & Computer Vision) from March 2022 to February 2023, Director, Data Science from July 2019 to March 2022, Manager, Data Science from August 2018 to July 2019, and Data Scientist from July 2017 to August 2018.

Before joining Orbital Insight, Christian was a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at NASA Ames Research Center, where they focused on characterizing exoplanet demographics and determining their occurrence rates. Christian worked on synthesizing data from multiple exoplanet detection techniques and completed the census of exoplanets orbiting common stars in our Galaxy. Christian was in this role from July 2016 to July 2017.

Prior to their position at NASA Ames Research Center, Christian was a Graduate Student at The Ohio State University, where they pioneered the methodology and practice of synthesizing data from multiple exoplanet detection techniques. Christian analyzed data from microlensing, radial velocity, and direct imaging surveys to constrain the demographics and occurrence rates of exoplanets. Christian held this role from August 2011 to May 2016.

Christian's early work experience includes a role as a Research Scientist at Caltech, where they contributed to the discovery of 18 new planets and developed a data analysis pipeline for characterizing the photometric performance of infrared detectors. Christian worked at Caltech from June 2010 to May 2011.

Christian Clanton's education history begins in 2006 when they attended Caltech and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics from 2006 to 2010. Following this, they enrolled at The Ohio State University and obtained a Master of Science degree in Astronomy between 2011 and 2013. Christian then continued their studies at The Ohio State University and completed a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Astronomy from 2011 to 2016.