NOAO scientific staff, location, scientific interests, and functional duties. Personal web sites can be accessed by clicking on the scientist’s name. The NOAO South Staff are listed below, and as a group here.
Phone numbers and email addresses for all employees are available in the NOAO Phone List Search.
Tucson
Name | Rank | Scientific Interests | Functional Responsibilities | Location |
Timothy Abbott (Tim) |
Observatory Scientist |
Variability studies; late stages of binary stellar evolution; Optical and IR observing systems: telescopes, instrumentation; operations | Blanco Telescope Scientist, ACTR chair, DECam team support member | La Serena |
Helmut Abt | Astronomer Emeritus | Double stars; stellar rotation; stellar characteristics; publication practices in astronomy |
Adjunct Professor, Nat. Ast. Obs. China |
Tucson |
Lori Allen | Senior Scientist | Star and planet formation; galactic structure; near-Earth objects; infrared instrumentation | Director of NOIRLab's Mid-Scale Obervatories | Tucson |
Emma Beasor | Postdoctoral Research Associate | massive star evolution, cool supergiant mass-loss, supernova progenitors | Hubble Fellow | Tucson |
Adam S. Bolton | Senior Scientist | Observational cosmology; galaxies and dark matter; gravitational lensing; spectroscopic surveys; data mining, algorithms, and statistics | Director for NOIRLab's Community Science and Data Center | Tucson |
César Briceño | Scientist | Star formation, young stars | Telescope Scientist SOAR; SAM support. | La Serena |
Regis Cartier | Research Associate | Supernovae, cosmology using SNe Ia, AGN variability, time-domain astronomy, observational techniques and surveys | SOAR support astronomer, Goodman and triple-spec support teams, outreach | La Serena |
Arjun Dey | Astronomer | Observational cosmology, galaxy formation and evolution, active galactic nuclei, Milky Way structure and evolution, astronomical surveys | NOAO Project Scientist for DESI, DESI Observing Operations Manager | Tucson |
Mark Dickinson | Astronomer | Galaxy formation and evolution; high redshift galaxies; active galactic nuclei | U.S. ELT Program Scientist | Tucson |
Jay Elias | Astronomer | Instrumentation (especially infrared); transient phenomena; observatory operations | SOAR Director | Tucson |
Mark Everett | Assistant Scientist | Exoplanet and host star characterization; stellar multiplicity; stellar variability; time domain studies | Observer and operations support for WIYN | Tucson |
Katy Garmany |
Emeritus Scientist |
Massive star formation and evolution; formal and informal astronomy education, with particular emphasis on outreach to the Tohono O'odham nation, the Native nation where Kitt Peak is located | Tohono O'odham relations; NOAO press releases | Tucson |
Stephen Heathcote (Steve) | Astronomer | Young Stellar Objects, Herbig-Haro outflows | NOAO Associate Director for NOAO South (including Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory) | La Serena |
Kenneth Hinkle (Ken) | Scientist | Circumstellar and interstellar matter; molecular spectroscopy; peculiar stars; instrumentation |
US NGO, Gemini user support (Archive, AO, IR instruments); Instrument scientist (Phoenix)
|
Tucson |
Richard Joyce (Dick) | Scientist | Late-type stars; mass loss; infrared detector and instrumentation development | Mayall 4-m Telescope scientist, Instrument scientist (WHIRC), NOAO-DESI Scientist, Member WIYN Science Steering Committee (SSC) | Tucson |
Stephanie Juneau | Associate Astronomer | Galaxy evolution; supermassive black holes; active galaxies | Data Lab Project Scientist; Data Lab Science Team Lead | Tucson |
Thomas Kinman (Tom) | Astronomer Emeritus | Galactic structure; galactic halo; horizontal branch stars | Tucson | |
Tod Lauer | Astronomer | Large-scale structure of the Universe; distance scale; structure of galaxies; super massive black holes; stellar populations; planetary science; image processing algorithms | NOAO survey program liaison; NOAO survey data products; NOAO science highlights; US. extremely large telescope program | Tucson |
Chien-Hsiu Lee | Assistant Scientist | Time-domain studies, gravitational lensing, exoplanets | CSDC, ANTARES alert broker | Tucson |
Dan Li | Assistant Scientist | Circumstellar disks, polarimetry, asteroids, instrumentation | WIYN Support Scientist | Tucson |
Roger Lynds | Astronomer Emeritus | Star and galaxy formation; products of galaxy interaction in the recent and early Universe | Tucson | |
Clara Martinez-Vazquez | Postdoctoral Research Associate | Resolved stellar populations; nearby dwarf galaxies; RR Lyrae and Cepheid variable stars; distance scale | DECam support astronomer, CTIO colloquium convenor | Tucson |
Thomas Matheson | Astronomer | Supernovae; novae; gamma-ray bursts; time-domain astronomy; cosmology | Head of Time-Domain Services, ANTARES project | Tucson |
Aaron Meisner | Research Associate | Wide-area optical/infrared surveys, rare object searches, citizen science, large data sets | Hubble Fellow | Tucson |
Joan Najita | Astronomer | Star and planet formation; protoplanetary disks; astrochemistry; astrobiology; debris disks; exoplanets and substellar objects; Galactic structure; infrared spectroscopy; wide-field surveys; highly multiplexed spectroscopy | NOAO Chief Scientist; NOAO Press Officer; e-newsletter Currents editor; science-based strategic planning; academic affairs | Tucson |
David Nidever | Associate Scientist | Galaxy formation and evolution; galactic chemical evolution; galactic structure; Magellanic Clouds; stellar populations; large photometric and spectroscopic surveys; software pipelines | Survey Data Scientist | Tucson from Bozeman |
Robert Nikutta | Associate Scientist | AGN tori & central engine (IR & X-ray & sub-mm), surveys & catalogs (WISE, SDSS), Bayesian & advanced statistics, variability of AGN, IR interferometry, dust radiative transfer in clumpy media, software development, modeling & SED fitting, big data, HPC in astronomy, visualization | Survey Data Scientist | Tucson |
Dara Norman | Associate Scientist | Gravitational lensing; large scale structure; quasars | NOAO Diversity Co-Advocate, Gemini user support (GMOS) (also assigned NDO, see above) | Tucson |
Knut Olsen | Associate Astronomer | Stellar populations; galaxy formation and evolution; interaction of stars with the ISM | Data Lab Program Head; Data Lab Product Team Lead | Tucson |
Sean Points | Scientist | Interstellar Medium (ISM); Magellanic Clouds; supernova remnants, evolved stars; instrumentation | Instrument Scientist: SOI, Goodman Spectrograph, COSMOS, and ARCoIRIS; Blanco Scheduler | La Serena |
Stephen Pompea (Steve) | Observatory Scientist | Inquiry- and research-based science education; astronomical instrumentation | EPO Head, Manager Of Science Education, Public Information Officer | Tucson |
Ronald Probst (Ron) | Scientist Emeritus | Star-forming regions; low-mass stars; infrared imaging instrumentation | Tucson | |
Jayadev Rajagopal | Scientist | Circumstellar dust, debris disks; high angular resolution techniques in optical/infrared; atmospheric turbulence | Head, WIYN Operations | Tucson |
Stephen Ridgway (Steve) |
Astronomer |
Variability, transients and temporal sky surveys | Data Lab Time Domain Scientist, Optical Interferometry Community Liaison, Co-Diversity Advocate | Tucson |
Susan Ridgway | Associate Scientist | Quasar host galaxies | Gemini user support (NIRI, GMOS) | Tucson |
Abhijit Saha (Abi) | Astronomer | Variable stars; stellar populations; cosmological distance scale; imaging and photometry | Time domain scientist, ANTARES project; Chair, Promotions and Tenure Committee; WIYN Board member; member Gemini Science & Technology Advisory Committee. | Tucson |
Malcolm Smith | Astronomer Emeritus | Global environmental impact of light pollution; the early Universe; quasars/active galactic nuclei | Site protection, EPO | La Serena |
Verne Smith | Astronomer | High-resolution spectroscopy; cosmochemistry; nuclear astrophysics; chemical evolution; stellar populations; stellar atmospheres; stellar evolution |
Chair of the NOAO Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC); President of the WIYN Observatory Board of Directors
|
Tucson |
Monika Soraisam | Research Associate | Novae, variable stars, Type Ia supernova progenitors, stellar population of M31 | Postdoctoral researcher | Tucson |
David Sprayberry | Senior Scientist | Instrumentation and observing techniques; galaxy formation and evolution; statistical analysis of galaxy populations, especially dwarf and low surface brightness galaxies | Manager of NN-ETS; Project Manager for NOAO-DESI | Tucson |
Letizia Stanghellini | Astronomer | Stellar structure and evolution; Galactic and extragalactic planetary | Head, US National Gemini Office | Tucson |
Stephen Strom (Steve) | Astronomer Emeritus | Formation and evolution of planetary systems; origin of stellar angular moment | Tucson | |
Andrei Tokovinin | Astronomer | Statistics and formation of binary and multiple stars; adaptive optics; site testing | Instrument scientist(1.5-m echelle), project scientist (SOAR Adaptive Optics Module) | La Serena |
Francisco Valdes (Frank) | Scientist | Asteroids; cosmology; gravitational lensing; stellar spectroscopy; astronomical software |
Calibration pipelines; archiving; scientific aplications development
|
Tucson |
Nicole van der Bliek | Scientist | Instrumentation; young stars and cool stars | NOAO South Deputy Director | La Serena |
Katherina Vivas | Associate Astronomer |
Stellar populations in the Milky Way and its satellites; variable stars; galactic structure |
CTIO Support Astronomer, DECam support team member | La Serena |
Alistair Walker | Astronomer | Stellar populations; the Magellanic Clouds; the distance scale; astronomical instrumentation and detectors | DECam Instrument Scientist, Leader of Optical Imagers Support Team, Member of the NOAO Promotion and Tenure Committee, Member of CTIO Advisory Committee on Technical Resources (ACTR) | La Serena |
Constance Walker (Connie) | Scientist | Inquiry- and research-based science education; submillimeter-wave spectroscopy of star formation in galaxies at different epochs | Dark skies awareness, informal science programs | Tucson |
Benjamin A. Weaver | Associate Scientist | Galaxy properties, large-scale structure, astronomical "big data", Python in astronomy. | Data management, transfer and archiving for Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). Development of user interfaces, visualization and utilities for spectroscopic data. | Tucson |
Sidney Wolff | Astronomer Emeritus | Star formation; stellar rotation | President, LSST Corporation | Tucson |
Alfredo Zenteno | Assistant Scientist | Observational Cosmology | DECam/Blanco Support | La Serena |
Last updated or reviewed August 27, 2020.