Prof. Schiminovich is a lead scientist (and Co-I) for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), a NASA small-explorer mission launched in April 2003. Schiminovich joined the Astronomy department in 2004 and has been working with graduate students and collaborators to use data from this new satellite to study the history of star formation in the local and distant universe. Special Editions of the Astrophysical Journal Letters (January 2005) and the Astrophysical Journal Supplement (December 2007) have been devoted to results from this mission. Additionally, several instrumentation projects are underway, including the construction and flight of a novel UV multi-object spectrograph for a balloon-borne payload (FIREBall) which will detect the faint light from the gas in between the galaxies.