“I was spending time with Mr. Sinclair,” Carr said. “He was one of my favorite teachers and I spent a lot of time with him. We were talking about space stuff and my future and I was stressing uncertainty because I didn't know what path I wanted to go down. And he kind of just posed the question: ‘Why don’t you study astrophysics? Why don’t you become an astronomer?’”

That conversation set Carr down a path that saw him earn a bachelor’s degree in Astrophysics from Haverford and a Master’s and Doctorate from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Now, reflecting back on a decade-plus of higher education in his chosen field, it’s easy for Carr to identify what makes him spark the most in his field.

“It boils down to innate curiosity. I just wanted to learn about how these things work,” Carr said. “Why does the night sky look the way it does? Why does this galaxy look blue? One of the most breathtaking things to see through a telescope are the planets. You look at Saturn through a telescope and you can see the rings, you can see the different colors of the ring. Seeing some of the stuff that you learn at work with your own eyes, it’s hard to beat. I just wanted to extend that knowledge.”

That curiosity is the thing that stands out to Kurt Sinclair more than a decade later when asked about Carr as a student.

“I always found it easy and enjoyable to work with and teach Derrick because he was a student sincerely interested in learning physics,” Sinclair said. “He wanted a sound understanding of the concepts, principles, and mathematical techniques we discussed in class and he would work diligently to achieve that understanding. A significant part of that work was questioning. Derrick's curiosity demanded that he question ideas that, at first, didn't make sense to him until they finally did. He was then ready to incorporate new learning with old and continue his progress in physics. I am not at all surprised that he kept going until he earned his doctoral degree in the field of astrophysics and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to teach Derrick and introduce him to a beautiful subject.”

Carr focused his graduate work on Galaxy research and along the way picked up computer science, analysis, and data science skills. Those tools led him to a job in renewable energy working for Cypress Creek Renewables, one of the country’s leading solar companies generating 12 gigawatts of solar energy. Carr found that a lot of the skills that he learned while looking through data sets of galaxies he could use to look through the data that comes back from Cypress Creek’s solar farms.

“When I was going through my program (at UNC Chapel Hill) – I loved the research, I loved the people, I loved the work and finding out more about our universe – but there was also a part of me that was really looking to do something that has more of a real impact on the world,” Carr said. “So with that in mind, I switched to renewable energy. And so far, it’s something that I really do enjoy. When I am able to find issues with a solar farm and I can suggest that this is why we aren’t getting as much energy as we think we should be – and to see the actual change and fix happen in real time, or almost real time as I’m learning that there’s a lot of back and forth in industry compared to school – it feels like it’s making a bit more of a difference.”

While Kurt Sinclair clearly had a big impact on Derrick’s life, he also fondly remembers David Brown, who taught him multivariable calculus (“that put me in a good spot for undergrad calculus”), and David Brandt and Mike Davila, who were his cross country coaches and helped create a strong sense of community amongst the team.