Community Outreach Through Stars and BBQ — Why Tom Beckermann Says “Yes”

How Beckermann’s Trajectory has been Defined by This One Word

“I just say yes to a bunch of stuff.”

This incredibly simple, yet surprisingly challenging mantra has guided Belmont biology professor Dr. Tom Beckermann’s decision making for decades. As a result, his community impact has extended far beyond Belmont’s parameters.

By simply being open to new experiences, Beckermann has connected with those around him through unique community positions he has held, pursued an education he never thought possible and rediscovered a childhood passion in adulthood that he still pursues regularly.

Saying Yes to Grad School

Coming from a lower-class background, the financial burden of college appeared daunting to Beckermann despite a handful of potential Division III football scholarships. He instead opted to work at a local Missouri McDonald’s while earning his associate degree in general studies at East Central College.

While attending East Central, Beckermann took a genetics class that inspired him to pursue a biology undergraduate degree at Webster University. By this time, he had risen to a management position at McDonald’s, was working in the lab and picked up two additional jobs to pay his way through undergraduate school.

“One day, my mentor asked me what I was going to do after I graduated,” Beckermann recalled. “I remember telling her, ‘Well, I guess I’m going to get a job in biology,’ because having four jobs at the time wasn’t ideal. She suggested I go to graduate school, which I immediately shot down because I couldn’t afford it, until she told me they pay a stipend to be there. I didn’t know that, so I started looking into it.”

Attending graduate school had never been a thought in Beckermann’s mind until that day, but rather than balk at a seemingly impossible opportunity, he engaged with his mentor’s suggestion. Shortly thereafter, he enrolled in a graduate program at Vanderbilt University.

“I went to continue exploring and playing around with science — just figuring out how and why things work,” he said. “I was just open to the possibility of grad school and thought it sounded cool. I just said yes.”

Saying Yes to Barbecue

Just as he always searched for new experiences that were uninhibited by his background and financial state growing up, Beckermann now looks to create those same opportunities for others through community service.

This desire to get plugged in took shape in grad school, and his first opportunity came with a tasty benefit.

“As a grad student, you’re notoriously poor and continually looking for free stuff or a free meal,” he laughed. “Most importantly, I love helping and serving my community. But I did get a lot of great stuff out of this one too.”

For six years, Beckermann judged barbecue competitions as a member of the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS), the largest competitive barbecue organization in the world. He took an initial class in which the KCBS teaches future judges what to look for when assessing a plate. While he was not paid as a judge, the free barbecue that served as the pride and joy of pitmasters across the country more than compensated him for his time.

“It ruined just about every other barbecue joint ever since because these people are literally cooking just for you,” Beckermann said. “They would spend a day and a half cooking literally six pieces of chicken and six pieces of brisket with only you in mind.”

In Beckermann’s professional opinion, HoneyFire Barbeque Co. offers Nashvillians his favorite barbecue with locations in Bellevue and inside Assembly Food Hall.

In addition to his days grading some of the best food the South has to offer, Beckermann regularly volunteered at local craft beer festivals downtown or at the Nashville Zoo to serve those around.

“It was a blast, and it all started from thinking, ‘hey, this looks interesting,’” he said.

Saying Yes to the BSAS Presidency

As a child, Beckermann was fascinated by the stars he saw when gazing up at the dark Wyoming sky. However, he never chased his astronomical interest until he was a grad student, kicking himself for not taking advantage of the vast, clear emptiness that his home state offered him. Once at Vanderbilt, Beckermann combined his passions for the sky with photography and dove headfirst into astrophotography.

“Photography is all about light, and astrophotography is no different,” he explained. “If you look through a telescope at a nebula, you will likely just see a gray, fuzzy smudge in the sky. That’s because our eyes cannot collect enough light. But when you look through a camera, get your light right and take long exposure photos, you start pulling out shapes and colors you can’t see with the naked eye.”

Beckermann started out with an inexpensive Nikon camera that his wife gifted him shortly after their wedding and learned every in-and-out associated with photography to capture star trails, galaxies and nebulas with his own hands. He began investing in lenses, equipment to account for the earth’s rotation during long exposure photos and a DWARF II telescope, an electronically assisted smart telescope with a built-in map that can be programmed to capture specific celestial beings.

To connect with others sharing the same interest in the stars and galaxies far, far away, Beckermann joined Nashville’s Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society (BSAS) in 2017 ahead of the eclipse. About four months after becoming a member, he was offered the vice president role at BSAS and was asked to be the president two years later.

Beckermann had no intention of being the BSAS president when he joined years prior, but he was open to a new opportunity that now allows him to give back to his community once again.

The BSAS is heavily involved in local outreach, an element of the society that Beckermann emphasizes heavily and helps organize. The organization hosts public star parties at parks across the Nashville area at which anyone is welcome to attend. Members bring their personal telescopes and gear for the public to use, look at the skies and search for specific stars or nebulas they want to see.

The DWARF II telescope Beckermann brings allows for the immediate sharing of photos and videos with star party attendees, offering a one-of-a-kind souvenir of the evening.

“It’s so much fun,” he smiled. “Again, it’s all about getting out and interacting with the community. And I really enjoy spreading things that I am passionate about with people.”

Saying Yes to Hobbies

Public star parties are frequently held in places such as Edwin Warner Park and Bells Bend Park, locations that are accessible but heavily impacted by light pollution. Beckermann is always searching for dark sky parks across the country that offer him the best chance at accomplishing his own personal astrophotographical mission — to photograph all 110 of the Messier objects, the non-comet space objects logged by famous astronomer Charles Messier in the late 1700s.

Ultimately, Beckermann would like to create his own chart in the same style as the periodic table of the elements, but featuring his photographs of the Messier objects. As of June 2024, he has photographed around 80 of them.

Not only did Beckermann say “yes” to a presidential position that allowed him to pour into aspiring astronomers within the Nashville community, but he said “yes” to a hobby lying dormant since childhood that has allowed him to experience joy.

“It’s so important to have a hobby that you love as an adult,” he said. “Make sure you find at least one and continue it.”

Saying Yes to Belmont

At Webster, he became friends with his professors and enjoyed the tight-knit community and interactions afforded him by small class sizes. When looking for a university to teach at full time, Beckermann knew he wanted to call a similar environment home, leading him to Belmont in 2018.

“I’m not saying that larger universities are bad, but you won’t get the small class sizes or interact with your professors in a way that develops a personal relationship,” he said. “At Belmont, we’re big enough to attract a wide variety of students with wildly different interests, but it feels like a real community. As an employee, I feel like I’m coming to work with friends. Teaching takes a lot out of you, but I enjoy interacting with the students and everybody else here on a daily basis.”

Beckermann’s journey is one founded on embracing opportunities and welcoming new experiences, in turn leading him to create positive experiences for others as a professor at Belmont and volunteer in the community. His story also serves as a reminder for others to follow their passions, even amid a busy schedule, because even that can lead to the betterment of others.