Welcome!

Prof. Rayf Shiell,
Department of Physics & Astronomy,
Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive,
Peterborough, ON, K9L 0G2, Canada

T: 1-705-748-1011 x7023
Email: rayfshiell@trentu.ca
Directions to campus can be found here.

Hi, and welcome! My work is a mix of research and teaching, and each bring joy from what Oscar Wilde termed ‘playing gracefully with ideas.’ Science helps us understand and make useful predictions about nature - through curiosity, measurement, being open to competing hypotheses, and weighing up observations. This has led to remarkable advances - from deep inside the human body to far beyond the solar system. Check out the tabs above to read about my research interests, courses I have taught, and our new optics book.

For leisure I often head outdoors, hiking, coaching or playing sports of the season. Here's a chat I had with Clayton Law, former Trent student and host of the Naturally Curious podcast, about time spent both in and out of the lab. Clayton asked great questions!