In the continuing effort to unite the two branches of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Dean's Seminar Series continued on April 23rd, 2008, with "Neighborhoods of the Universe," a presentation given by Dr. Michael Vogeley, an associate professor of physics. His lecture focused specifically on his work with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and more broadly dealt with the physics of the universe.

Dean Donna Murasko, during her introductory remarks, stated that the purpose of the Dean's Seminars was to present a wide-range of ideas from across the college in a way that is accessible to students of all majors. This intention, or "challenge," as the Dean described it, has been carried out by the faculty over the course of the Dean's Seminar Series, and Vogeley took up this multi-disciplinary approach at the very beginning of his presentation by mentioning that it was the British author John Milton who first used the term space in reference to the heavens.

Vogeley's presentation opened with a broad overview of the evolution of the universe over the course of its roughly 14 billion year existence, and quickly transitioned into detailing the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The international collaboration, of which Drexel University is a part, is a means to quantitatively analyze the structure and layout of the universe. It is the most ambitious and comprehensive project of its kind, and uses a telescope in New Mexico that is equipped with what Vogeley described as the "world's most expensive digital camera." The 120-megapixel device produces images that are 126 gigabytes in size, and provide researchers with the most accurate depictions of millions of galaxies.

Discussion of the SDSS led Vogeley to further analyze the formation and characteristics of a range of varying galaxies. He drew an analogy between the various galaxy forms and societies here on Earth and compared areas of the universe to cities, suburbs, and countryside, based upon the number and attributes of the galaxies present within them.

The success of Vogeley's presentation, at least in the sense of appealing to a broad audience, became most apparent during the question and answer session that followed his lecture. Questions ranged from the mundane to the highly theoretical—problems about the true nature and existence of dark matter in the universe—and Vogeley answered each thoroughly and affably.

Before he became an associate professor of physics at Drexel, Vogeley studied at some of America's finest institutions, among them Princeton, where he studied Astrophysical Sciences as an undergraduate, and Harvard, where he received his Ph.D. in Astronomy. For his work with the SDSS, he has been published extensively, and he is now a faculty member of the Drexel Astrophysics group.