People
NOAO scientific staff, location, scientific interests, and functional duties. Personal web sites can be accessed by clicking on the scientist’s name. Email addresses are first initial, last name @noao.edu, e.g., dsilva@noao.edu.
Phone numbers and email addresses for all employees are available in the NOAO Phone List Search.
| Name | Rank | Scientific Interests | Functional Responsibilities | Location |
| Timothy Abbott (Tim) | Scientist |
Late stages of binary stellar evolution; Optical and IR observing systems: telescopes, instrumentation; operations |
Manager, Engineering & Technical Services (ETS), Deputy DECam project manager and DECam Installation Project Manager, ACTR chair | La Serena |
| Helmut Abt | Astronomer Emeritus | Double stars; stellar rotation; stellar characteristics; publication practices in astronomy | Thai 2.4-m telescope (Tucson supervisor), Scientometrics | Tucson |
| David Atlee | Research Associate | Star formation and galaxy formation, AGN | Postdoc | Tucson |
| Lori Allen | Associate Scientist | Star and planet formation; infrared astronomy and instrumentation | KPNO Deputy Director; Instrument scientist (NEWFIRM, WHIRC) | Tucson |
| Timothy Beers (Tim) | Astronomer | Metal Poor Stars; large surveys | KPNO Director | Tucson |
| Michael Belton (Mike) | Astronomer Emeritus | Planetary science; comets; asteroids; Jupiter system | Tucson | |
| Robert Blum (Bob) | Astronomer | Galactic Center; stellar kinematics and mass distribution in the central Milky Way | NOAO Deputy Director | Tucson |
| Todd Boroson | Astronomer | AGN spectra; AGN host galaxy properties; AGN physics; Instrumentation; Data analysis techniques | Head of Program System Community Development; PI One Degree Imager | Tucson |
| Charles Claver (Chuck) | Scientist | Stellar Ages; white dwarf structure and evolution; stellar photometry; optical instrumentation | LSST Systems Engineering | Tucson |
| Arjun Dey | Astronomer | Galaxy evolution; high redshift galaxies; large-scale structure | NOAO/KPNO BigBOSS liaison scientist, Keck contact scientist | Tucson |
| Mark Dickinson | Associate Astronomer | Galaxy formation and evolution; high redshift galaxies; active galactic nuclei | Science Data Management Program Scientist | Tucson |
| Hui Dong | Research Associate | Galactic center, Massive stars, Stellar population, Interstellar Medium, M31 bulge | PHAT postdoc | Tucson |
| Jonathan Elias (Jay) | Astronomer | Star formation and evolution; Magellanic Clouds; supernovae | GSMT Program, NOAO liason to TMT (also assigned to NSSC/SCD, see above) | Tucson |
| Mark Everett | Research Associate | Exoplanets; stellar variability; time domain studies | Kepler Mission Follow-up Program | Tucson |
| Elise Furlan | Research Associate | Star and planet formation; protostellar envelopes and protoplanetary disk evolution | Postdoc | IPAC, Pasadena |
| Katy Garmany | Associate Scientist | Massive stars, evolution and formation; astronomical education | NOAO newsletter editor, NOAO Diversity Co-Advocate | Tucson |
| Brooke Gregory | Scientist | Infrared instrumentation; cryogenic instrumentation; telescope optics and upgrades; adaptive optics | Observatory Infrastructure for DECam (cleanroom, cooling, air supply); Lead on AURA Laser Policies | La Serena |
| Stephen Heathcote (Steve) | Astronomer | Young Stellar Objects, Herbig-Haro outflows | SOAR Director | SOAR/La Serena |
| Kenneth Hinkle (Ken) | Scientist | Circumstellar and interstellar matter; molecular spectroscopy; peculiar stars; instrumentation |
Gemini User support (GNIRS, Michelle, NIRI); Instrument scientist (Phoenix)
|
Tucson |
| Karianne Holhjem | Research Associate | Gravitational lensing and galaxy clusters | SOAR postdoc, OSIRIS and Spartan contact scientist | SOAR/La Serena |
| Sungryong Hong | Research Associate | Galaxy formation and evolution, large scale structure, stellar feedback, interstellar medium | Postdoc | Tucson |
| Hanae Inami | Research Associate | Galaxy formation and evolution, luminous infrared galaxies, active galactic nuclei | CANDELS postdoc |
Tucson |
| David James | Assistant Astronomer |
Wide-field photometric and spectroscopy surveys
of Galactic open clusters; Evolution of stellar rotation and internal mixing; Extra-solar planet properties; Instrumentation; Ages of stars. |
HYDRA Instrument Scientist; TripleSpec Project Scientist; DECam Instrument Support Team, including CTIO's DECal project scientist. Member of Dark Energy Survey's Cluster and Milky Way Working Groups. |
La Serena |
| Richard Joyce (Dick) | Scientist | Late-type stars; mass loss; infrared detector and instrumentation development | Telescope scientist (Mayall 4m), instrument scientist (WHIRC, FLAMINGOS), Gemini User support (GNIRS) | Tucson |
| Catherine (Katie) Kaleida | Research Associate | Star clusters and stellar associations in nearby galaxies, stellar populations in galaxies, galaxy formation and evolution | CTIO Director of Student Programs | La Serena |
| Jeyhan Kartaltepe | Research Associate | Interacting and merging galaxies, luminous infrared galaxies, active galactic nuclei, galaxy evolution | Hubble Fellow | Tucson |
| Thomas Kinman (Tom) | Astronomer Emeritus | Galactic structure; galactic halo; horizontal branch stars | Tucson | |
| Patricia Knezek (Pat) | Scientist | Stellar populations; galaxy formation and evolution; star formation in dwarf and low surface brightness galaxies | WIYN Director | WIYN/Tucson |
| Andrea Kunder | Research Associate | Milky Way Galaxy Formation, Galactic Bulge, stellar populations, RR Lyrae stars, Distance indicators | Instrument scientist: MOSAIC II; DECam Instrument Support Scientist | La Serena |
| Tod Lauer | Astronomer | Cosmology; large-scale structure of the Universe; evolution of the Universe; distance scale; structure of galaxies; dense stellar system; black holes in galactic nuclei; stellar populations | WIYN Board Member; Instrument Scientist: MOSAIC; NOAO LSST science working group; NOAO Survey Liaison | Tucson |
| Roger Lynds | Astronomer Emeritus | Star and galaxy formation; products of galaxy interaction in the recent and early Universe | Tucson | |
| Thomas Matheson (Tom) | Associate Astronomer | Supernovae; novae; gamma-ray bursts; cosmology | Gemini user support (GMOS), Gemini archive support, NOAO LSST science working group | Tucson |
| Kenneth Mighell (Ken) | Scientist | Stellar populations in the Galaxy and nearby galaxies; formation and evolution of Local Group galaxies; astrophysical applications of low-count statistics; Dwarf; spheroidal galaxies; globular clusters; CCD stellar photometry | (Tucson) Tucson REU Site Director | Tucson |
| Joan Najita | Astronomer |
Star and planet formation; substellar objects; infrared spectroscopy; wide-field surveys |
Office of Science Program Head, E-newsletter Currents editor, astronomy community outreach | Tucson |
| Dara Norman | Assistant 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 | System Community Development Head, NOAO LSST science working group | Tucson |
| Janine Pforr | Research Associate | Galaxy formation and evolution, galaxy properties, e.g. stellar mass, spectral energy distribution fitting | CANDELS postdoc | Tucson |
| Sean Points | Associate Scientist | Interstellar medium (ISM); the Magellanic Clouds; evolved stars; astronomical instrumentation | Instrument Scientist: SOI & Goodman Spectrograph; Project Scientist: K/COSMOS | La Serena |
| Stephen Pompea (Steve) | Scientist | Inquiry- and research-based science education; astronomical instrumentation | EPO Head, Manager Of Science Education, Public Information Officer | Tucson |
| Ronald Probst (Ron) | Scientist | Star-forming regions; low-mass stars; infrared imaging instrumentation | Instrument scientist (NEWFIRM), Gemini user support (NICI) | Tucson |
| Jayadev Rajagopal | Assistant Scientist | Circumstellar dust, debris disks; high angular resolution techniques in optical/infrared; atmospheric turbulence |
WIYN Telescope Scientist, Gemini User Support (NICI) |
Tucson |
| Stephen Ridgway (Steve) | Astronomer | Variability, transients and temporal sky surveys | LSST performance metrics lead, optical interferometry community liaison | Tucson |
| Susan Ridgway | Assistant Astronomer | Quasar host galaxies | Gemini user support (NIRI, GMOS) | Tucson |
| Abhijit Saha (Abi) | Astronomer | Variable stars; stellar populations; cosmological distance scale; imaging and photometry | Interim KPNO Director, NOAO LSST Project Scientist, NOAO LSST science working group | Tucson |
| Colette Salyk | Research Associate | Circumstellar disks, star and planet formation, infrared spectroscopy | Leo Goldberg Postdoctoral Fellow | Tucson |
| Richard A. Shaw | Scientist | Late stage stellar evolution, planetary nebulae, gaseous nebulae, astronomy with large datasets, astronomy software | WIYN Program Manager | Tucson |
| David Silva (Dave) | Senior Scientist | Extragalactic stellar populations; elliptical galaxies | NOAO Director | Tucson |
| Malcolm Smith | Astronomer | Global environmental impact of light pollution; the early Universe; quasars/active galactic nuclei | User support (ISPI), site protection, EPO | La Serena |
| R. Christopher Smith (Chris) | Astronomer | Supernovae; optical transients; supernova remnants; the interstellar medium | DECam support, AURA Head of Mission | La Serena |
| Verne Smith | Astronomer | High-resolution spectroscopy; cosmochemistry; nuclear astrophysics; chemical evolution; stellar populations; stellar atmospheres; stellar evolution | NOAO Associate Director for NSSC | 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 | Head of Program NSTC, NOAO liason to GMT | Tucson |
| Letizia Stanghellini | Associate Astronomer | Stellar structure and evolution; Galactic and extragalactic planetary nebulae (PNe); stellar populations | System Users Support Head, MMT contact scientist | 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 | Cosmology; gravitational lensing; stellar spectroscopy; astronomical software |
Data pipelines (ODI, DECam-CP,+), IRAF application development
|
Tucson |
| Nicole van der Bliek | Scientist | Instrumentation; young stars and cool stars | NOAO Associate Director for CTIO | 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), LSST Operations Planning | La Serena |
| Constance Walker (Connie) | Associate 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 |
| Lloyd Wallace | Astronomer Emeritus | Spectroscopy and atmospheric structure of cool stars; molecular spectroscopy | Tucson | |
| Sidney Wolff | Astronomer Emeritus | Star formation; stellar rotation | President, LSST Corporation | Tucson |
Last updated or reviewed April 1, 2013.
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