As a tenure track astronomer at Gemini Observatory, I spend about half of my time doing service work for the community.

Gemini mostly operates in the queue mode observations (same as the operation mode of the Hubble Space Telescope). It means that astronomers define their observations during the Phase II stage of their proposal and Gemini staff execute these pre-defined observations at night. The main advantage of queue mode observations is that it makes the best use of the available weather conditions. It also saves time since astronomers do not need to travel to the telescope and be present for all the observations.

I am in the science operations group and involved in many aspects of queue mode observations, including facilitating Phase II preparations (contact scientist), making nightly plans (queue coordinator), and executing observations (observer).

In addition, I am the instrument scientist for GNIRS and MAROON-X. I am also a member of the GRACES team.

Alexis-Ann Acohido and I at the control room, observing on Halloween 2017