Kaplan received his Bachelor of Science from the
University of California at Berkeley in 1991, his master's in physics from the
University of Washington in 1996 and
PhD from the same institute under supervision of
Ann Nelson in 1999. After postdoctoral positions at the
University of Chicago,
Argonne National Lab and in the
SLAC Theory Group, he joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins in 2002. His primary research interest is physics
beyond the standard model, with a particular focus on the
Higgs mechanism and potentially related physics such as
supersymmetry, new
forces,
extra dimensions, and
dark matter. He is also exploring connections between
high energy physics and
cosmology. He was selected as a Kavli Frontiers Fellow of the
National Academy of Sciences, and an
Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. In 2011, Kaplan co-hosted season three of
National Geographic Channel's
Known Universe documentary series along with
Sigrid Close, Andy Howell,
Michael J. Massimino, and Steve Jacobs. Kaplan also produced (and starred in) the documentary
Particle Fever. ==Honors and awards==