Student Engagement at Gemini Observatory

The International Gemini Observatory is engaging with university students by inviting them to the observatory. Two examples of these activities are below.

First Graduate Student Program Visitors

Gemini Observatory welcomed several students to Hawai'i and Chile as part of the pilot Graduate Student Visitor Program. Graduate students, PIs, and CoIs of Gemini observing programs come to the observatory to meet our staff, give a talk, learn about the telescope, observatory operations, and data reduction, and get to know Gemini data better. 

We received a very healthy response to the first call in January with 66 applicants, and we have had visits from five students: Lucía Ferrari (Argentina), Guilherme Limberg (Brazil), Mairead Heiger (Canada), Changseok Kim (Korea), and Jillian Rastinejad (United States). Several seminars by our visiting students are available on the NOIRLab Science YouTube channel. 

In addition, the observatory hosted two dedicated Shadow the Scientists sessions, which allowed applicants who did not have a chance to visit the observatory in person to experience night operations virtually. During these sessions, participating graduate students had an opportunity to watch observations being conducted, as well as interact with staff scientists and night crew. Approximately 10 students from all over the world joined these sessions, which are available for viewing on the Shadow the Scientists YouTube page here and here. 

Given the success of the pilot program, we will offer this opportunity again in the future, and we are looking forward to even more applicants! We look forward to inviting more graduate students to visit Gemini and see how the observatory works.

Garima Singh, an Adaptive Optics Scientist at Gemini North explaining Altair (Gemini North’s adaptive optics system) and exoplanet imaging to students from the University of Calgary at the Maunakea summit facility. Credit: J. St-Amand/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

University of Calgary Students Visit Gemini North

Gemini North hosted a group of about 15 students from the University of Calgary in the middle of May. The group, led by Matt Taylor (now University of Calgary, ex-Gemini North staff member) and Phil Langill, got first-hand experience with how Gemini Observatory works. In particular, they were introduced to queue planning (and the excellent Gemini card game) and the Phase II process. 

The students had a round table with Gemini staff who had a variety of cultural and academic backgrounds. They were also shown night operations at Gemini and visited the summit for a closer look at the telescope. 

They also submitted a successful Directors Discretionary Time (DDT) proposal for Gemini and gave a talk to staff at Gemini North on that DDT proposal and another successful DDT proposal at CFHT. While inclement weather prevented successful observations at Gemini North, the students learned a tremendous amount about observatory dynamics and the details of observing through interactions with Gemini staff while setting up their program. Their program at CFHT successfully obtained observations from the infrared imager WIRCam, and the students are now busy reducing these data and trying to unravel cosmic mysteries. If you are interested in hearing more about this visit, or in planning a similar visit for your classroom, please contact Atsuko Nitta for Gemini North and Joanna Thomas-Osip for Gemini South.