A 60-year-old University of Hawaii at Hilo astronomy and physics professor was killed in a jeep accident May 27 while touring Canyon de Chelly in Arizona.

Richard Crowe was a member of the UH-Hilo faculty since 1987 and served as physics and astronomy department chairman from 1992 to 2002.

He co-authored 47 scientific publications, authored nine articles, including two major ones listed in the “Web of Science,” critiquing astrology, UFOs, Mars “Face” claims and creationism, according to Keaohou, a UH-Hilo project for research and scholarly activity at UH-Hilo Office of Research & Economic Development.

Crowe was astronomer-in-residence beginning in 2006 at UH-Hilo’s Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii.

Crowe was selected in 1991 as a Fujio Matsuda Research Fellow for his scholarly work on pulsating variable stars.