Leads
LDT Leads are responsible for the overall operation of the facility. [Additional description here.]
Dr. Stephen Levine - Astronomer & LDT Scientist
Dr. Kyler Kuehn - Deputy Director for Technology
Dr. Amanda Bosh - Observatory Operations Manager
Operations Staff
Operations Staff are responsible for the safe operation of the telescope at night. Remote observers should contact their operator(s) no less than a full day ahead of their observing session to confirm when and how they will be in contact. The monthly calendar and semester science calendar both contain the list of operators for a given night.
Jason Sanborn – Night Operations Manager
Ana Hayslip – LDT Observing Assistant
Ishara Nisley – LDT Observer
LaLaina Shumar – LDT Operator
Sydney Perez – LDT Operator
"New Hire" – LDT Operator
Instrument Leads
Each of the instruments available for use at LDT has a main contact person. For Facility Instruments, observers are encouraged to carefully read through the instrument manual, and contact the instrument lead in instances of technical challenges or needed changes in the manual. The use of Visitor and PI instruments must be coordinated through the listed instrument lead, as the LDT staff do not directly support these instruments.
LDT Facility Instruments:
LMI (Large Monolithic Imager) - Dr. Phil Massey
DeVeny Optical Spectrograph - Dr. Tom Bida
NIHTS (Near IR High Throughput Spectrograph) - Dr. Nick Moskovitz
Visitor / PI Instruments:
EXPRES - Dr. Debra Fischer (Yale)
QWSSI/DSSI - Dr. Elliott Horch (SCSU), Dr. Gerard van Belle (Lowell)
RIMAS (coming soon) - Dr. Alexander Kutyrev (GSFC/UMd)
Science Support
The LDT provides a Support Astronomer for assisting with observation planning, first-night observing support, and [other tasks to be discussed]. The LDT does not operate in 'queue' or other non-classical observing modes at this time, and the Support Astronomer cannot serve as the observer's proxy during assigned nights.
Dr. Timothy Ellsworth-Bowers - Support Astronomer
Instrument & Engineering Staff
The Instrument and Engineering Staff comprise the LDT day crew. These individuals keep the LDT running smoothly through regular monitoring, maintenance, and upgrading of all telescope and facility systems.
Instrument Group:
Dr. Tom Bida - Senior Instrument Scientist
Dr. Ryan Hamilton - Instrument Scientist
Dyer Lytle - Software Engineer
LDT Engineering Group:
Frank Cornelius - Engineering Manager
Dr. Georgi Mandushev - Research Scientist and facility software support
Mike Sweaton - LDT Electronic Engineer
Jake Tiegs - Mechanical Technician
Ben Reed – Jr. Electrical Technician
Logistics Contacts
The Lowell Observatory IT and Business Office Staff can assist with issues relevant to observing at the LDT.
IT issues - Scott Do, Charles von Buchwald-Wright
Lodging - Le Cam Nguyen
General - Catie Blazek
If you want to contact one of these people, try constructing their email as "first initial + last name at lowell dot edu". If that does not work, email tac at lowell and we will help you reach the right person.