Dr. Dennis K. Killinger, Ph.D. is a USF Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Physics and past Director of the Lidar Remote Sensing Laboratory in the College of Arts and Sciences. He was one of the early pioneers in the field of laser spectroscopy, tunable laser development and laser remote sensing nearly forty years ago, and is responsible for some of the major advances of this field, including the first laser remote sensing and mapping of methane, CO, NO, and ammonia in the atmosphere, the detection of trace plastics (BPA) and organics leached into drinking water and the ocean, and remote laser-induced-breakdown spectroscopy of explosives. His research included the development of a new tunable IR laser that proved to be ideal for detecting and mapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and is now used by NASA and NOAA for global CO2 measurements. His group also developed and licensed HITRAN-PC (c) software now used world-wide for prediction of laser absorption and light transmission through the atmosphere. His honors and awards include receiving the Governor's Outstanding Scientist Award, Outstanding Faculty Research Award, and Professorial Excellence Award. In addition to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), he is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), Photonics Society (SPIE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), National Academy of Inventors (NAI); and the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL). He has served as Associate Editor for Optics Letters and Applied Optics, has over a hundred publications, eight patents, and has written the chapter on "Atmospheric Optics" for the Handbook of Optics, and the "History of Laser Radar and Lidar". He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, M.S. from DePauw University, and B.A. from the University of Iowa.