The Professor Errant

I’m Amy Fredericks, a professor of Astronomy and an all-around nerd! I also love to travel; that’s why we’re here, of course! (And if you were wondering, “errant” is an archaic term for “traveling in search of adventure!”)

My story starts in Southern California, in my hometown of Huntington Beach, but didn’t stay there long. My dad’s job, working for the U.S. Navy, took us to places like Guam and Spain. After stops in Florida and (back in) California, my family ended up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, right outside of Washington DC.

After high school, I attended the University of Southern California, graduating with a B.S. in Astronomy. I later completed my M.S. in Astronomy at the University of Maryland.

Since then, my career has taken me to Maui, Boston, New York City, Washington DC, and now back to Southern California. I have been a full-time professor at Long Beach City College, in Long Beach, CA, since 2014.

My husband Rob is my “player 2″…though his role is mainly asking “which credit card do I use for this?” and going along for the ride. And he’s quite happy with that! (He makes plenty of suggestions about where to go and what to do, of course! He just leaves most of the planning to me.) He works at Disneyland and, yes, I do greatly enjoy the perks of being the spouse of a Disney cast member. In fact, we live almost literally in the shadow of the Resort (he has an annoyingly short commute!).

We “nerd out” about many things: sci-fi/fantasy and space stuff, movies, DISNEY…you know, the usual stuff! I also like to drag Rob to botanical gardens, museums, zoos, historic sites, and National Parks.