HETDEX is a large collaboration that involves astronomers, engineers, technicians, graduate students, and others from six academic institutions in the United States and Germany.
The HETDEX team works to provide answers to one of the leading questions of modern science, while developing the technology for exploring future problems.
Management Team
Karl Gebhardt
Project Scientist and Principal Investigator
Karl Gebhardt is the Herman and Joan Suit Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Texas at Austin. He is an observational astronomer whose research interests include the formation and evolution of galaxies, the dynamics of stellar systems, study of supermassive black holes, and cosmological studies of dark energy. He started HETDEX and is currently the Project Scientist. Karl is the creator of the HETDEX data reduction pipeline.
Erin Mentuch Cooper
Data Manager
Erin Mentuch Cooper is a Research Scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. She is an observational astronomer who utilizes large galaxy surveys to study galaxy evolution, star formation and stellar populations. She has extensive experience with multi-wavelength observations, spectral energy distribution fitting, and is especially interested in the reprocessing of stellar emission by ionized gas, molecular gas and dust. As Data Manager, Erin organizes HETDEX data release products and is the creator of the HETDEX JupyterLab environment. She aims to make data access to the complex HETDEX database as easy as possible.
Robin Ciardullo
Observations Manager
Robin Ciardullo is a Professor at Penn State University. He is an observational astronomer, whose interests range from cosmology and the history of the universe to local phenomena such as planetary nebulae and wide binary stars. Along the way, he has worked on such topics as the asteroseismology of post-AGB stars, the distances to Galactic planetary nebulae, the stellar populations of globular clusters, the properties of novae in nearby galaxies, the distribution and excitation of ionized gas in galaxies, the planetary nebula luminosity function and the extragalactic distance scale, the dark matter distribution and stellar kinematics of spiral galaxies, the chemical evolution of nearby galaxies, the stellar populations of intracluster stars, and the superclustering of galaxies in the nearby universe.
Chris Sneden
Publications Manager
Chris Sneden is a professor in the Department of Astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin. His main research interest is concentrated on spectroscopic studies of old stars: either giant stars of the Galactic disk that are nearing the end of their lives, or long-lived stars of the old Galactic halo. Chris previously served as Editor of The Astrophysical Journal Letters, and has served on many review panels and committees for NASA and the National Science Foundation’s national observatories.
Shun Saito
Cosmology Science Working Group Chair
Dr. Shun Saito is an Assistant Professor in Physics Department and Institute for Multi-messenger Astrophysics and Cosmology at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, MO. His expertise is theoretical interpretation and data analysis of a three-dimensional galaxy map. He is very much looking forward to what HETDEX Cosmology Science Working Group finds out about the nature of Dark Energy, one of the biggest mysteries in the Universe. He is also interested in measuring the large-scale Lyman-alpha intensity mapping which uniquely utilizes the blind nature of HETDEX. As the chair of Cosmology Science Working Group, he likes its relatively small size of group but welcoming and friendly atmosphere particularly for young, active researchers, who are the main drivers of the collaboration.
Sarah Tuttle
Large Scale Structure Working Group Chair
Sarah Tuttle is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. She is the head of UW’s new Space & Ground Instrumentation Laboratory. She is primarily an instrumental astrophysicist working on novel hardware approaches and builds spectrographs to study the physical processes of galaxies. As chair of the Large Scale Structure group, she is interested in isolating processes in galaxies that regulate star formation, especially in trying to detect emission and infall from the inter- and circumgalactic medium. She is also deeply invested in understanding how societal systemic biases (like racism and sexism) distort our scientific work, and works to address those biases in hiring and beyond.
Caryl Gronwall
Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei Working Group Chair
Caryl Gronwall is a Research Professor in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University. Her research concentrates on understanding the star formation history of the universe, studying both nearby and distant galaxies using observations at a wide range of wavelengths. She is a founding member of HETDEX and as chair of the Galaxy Working Group she leads the study of the properties of star-forming galaxies from the massive HETDEX dataset including both the high-redshift LAEs as well as the lower redshift OII galaxies. Caryl is also a member of the NASA Swift Observatory Science Operations Team and leads the effort to use the Swift UV/Optical telescope to study star formation and dust attenuation in nearby galaxies.
Keith Hawkins
Stars Working Group Chair
Keith Hawkins is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. He is primarily interested in a field called ‘Galactic Archaeology’ which is aimed at exploring the Milky Way Galaxy (its formation, evolution, and structure). His main interest is in using multi-object spectroscopic surveys such as HETDEX to better understand the chemo-dynamic properties of the Milky Way (Galactic Archaeology). His expertise is in high- to low-resolution spectroscopy and stellar chemical abundance patterns. He is also a member/Co-Investigator of the newly created Wootten Center for Astrophysical Plasma Properties (CAPP) at UT Austin.
HETDEX Architects
HETDEX Team Members
- Viviana Acquaviva, NYC College of Technology, External Participant
- Ana Sofia Paulino Afonso, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
- Shun Arai, Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute, Nagoya Univeristy
- Taft Armandroff, University of Texas at Austin, Steering Committee (Observer)
- Micaela B Bagley, UT Austin
- Thomas Barnes, UT Austin
- Alexander Belles, Penn State University
- Ralf Bender, MPE/LMU, Steering Committee (Observer)
- George F Benedict, McDonald Observatory
- Howard E Bond, Penn State University
- Brendan Bowler, UT Austin
- William Bowman, Yale University, External Collaborator
- Mike Boylan-Kolchin, UT Austin
- Volker Bromm, UT Austin, Steering Committee (Observer)
- Chris Byrohl, MPA Garching
- Andreia Carrillo, UT Austin
- Caitlin M. Casey, UT Austin
- Barbara Castanheira Endl, UT Austin/Baylor University, External Participant
- Owen Chase, UT Austin
- John Chisholm, UT Austin
- Patricia Cho, UT Austin
- Robin Ciardullo, Penn State University, Steering Committee (Ex Officio)
- William Cochran, U.T. McDonald Observatory
- Erin Mentuch Cooper, UT Austin, Architect, Steering Committee (Ex Officio)
- Olivia Cooper, UT Austin
- Gavin Dalton, University of Oxford
- Dustin Davis, UT Austin, Architect
- Roelof de Jong, Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)
- Darren Depoy, Texas A&M Uinversity
- Harriet Dinerstein, UT
- Niv Drory, UT Austin
- Emmy Escott, Durham University
- Neal Evans, University of Texas at Austin, Steering Committee (Chair)
- Max Fabricius, MPE, Architect
- Arya Farahi, University of Texas
- Rameen Farooq, Rutgers University, External Participant
- Daniel Joseph Farrow, University of Hull, Architect
- John Feldmeier, Youngstown State University, External Participant
- Steven Finkelstein, UT Austin, Steering Committee
- Nicole Firestone, Rutgers University
- Derek Fox, Penn State
- Cynthia Froning, UT Austin
- Ray Garner III, Texas A&M University
- Eric Gawiser, Rutgers University, External Participant
- Simon Gazagnes, UT Austin
- Karl Gebhardt, University of Texas, Steering Committee (ex officio)
- Henry S. Grasshorn Gebhardt, JPL/Caltech
- Lennart Gimm, Institute for Astrophysics and Geophysics, Göttingen University
- Max Gronke, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
- Caryl Gronwall, Pennsylvania State Univeristy, Steering Committee
- Yuchen Guo, University of Texas at Austin
- James Gurian, Penn State
- Keith Hawkins, UT Austin
- Laura Herold, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
- Gary Hill, University of Texas at Austin, Steering Committee
- Ulrich Hopp, University Munich, Architect
- Lindsay House, UT Austin
- Steven Janowiecki, HET, McDonald Observatory, UT
- Matt Jarvis, Oxford
- Donghui Jeong, Penn State, Steering Committee, Architect
- Shardha Jogee, UT Austin
- Ryota Kakuma, The University of Tokyo, ICRR
- Andreas Kelz, Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, Germany, Architect
- Mahan Mirza Khalari, UT Austin
- George Kharchilava, Rutgers University
- Hasti Khoraminezhad, Missouri University S&T
- Wolfram Kollatschny, Institute for Astrophysics and Geophysics, Goettingen University, Steering Committee
- Eiichiro Komatsu, MPA, Steering Committee, Architect
- Daniel Krolikowski, UT Austin
- Mirko Krumpe, Leibniz Institut for Astrophysics Potsdam, Germany ,
- Martin Landriau, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, External Participant, Architect
- Rebecca Larson, The University of Texas at Austin
- Floriane Leclercq, UT Austin
- Hanshin Lee, McDonald Observatory, Architect
- Gene Leung, UT Austin
- Yuexing Cindy Li, Penn State University
- Chenxu Liu, Yunnan University, Architect
- Siddhartha Gurung Lopez, CEFCA
- Madeline Lucey Lucey, UT Austin
- Phillip MacQueen, McDonald Observatory
- Suvrath Mahadevan, Penn State
- Sinclaire Manning, UT Austin
- Jennifer Marshall, Texas A&M University
- Ken Mawatari, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, The University of Tokyo
- Adam McCarron, The University of Texas at Austin
- Chris Mihos, CWRU, External Participant
- Kristen McQuinn, UT Austin
- Michael H Montgomery, UT Austin
- Hironao Miyatake, Nagoya University, External Partipant
- Jeongin Moon, MPA
- Leah Morabito, Oxford, External Participant
- Benjamin Moster, LMU Munich
- Volker Mueller, AIP Potsdam
- Shiro Mukae, University of Tokyo, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, Architect
- Gautam Nagaraj, Penn State University
- Tyler Nelson, UT Austin
- Jens Niemeyer, University of Göttingen
- Maja Lujan Niemeyer, MPA
- Yoshiaki Ono, ICRR, U. Tokyo,
- Oscar A Chavez Ortiz, UT Austin
- Masami Ouchi, ICRR, U. Tokyo,
- Casey Papovich, Texas A&M
- Isaiah Pipkin, UT Austin
- Jennifer Poppe, University of Texas
- Lawrence William Ramsey, Penn State University
- Meredith Powell, AIP
- Ansgar Reiners, Institut für Astrophysik Göttingen
- Edward L. Robinson, UT Austin
- Martin M. Roth, AIP
- Shun Saito, Missouri University of Science and Technology
- Ariel G. Sánchez, Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics, Steering Committee
- Revath Sankar, UT Austin
- Donald P. Schneider, Penn State, Steering Committee (Observer)
- Yutong Shan, University of Göttingen
- Sarah Shandera, Penn State
- Jan Snigula, MPE Garching, Architect
- Chris Sneden, UT Austin, Steering Committee (ex-officio)
- Else Starkenburg, Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam
- Matthias Steinmetz, AIP
- Alina Stephan, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München
- Jordan Stevens, Missouri S&T
- Dongsheng Sun, University of Tokyo
- Armin Tänzer, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
- Brianna McKay, University of Washington, External Participant
- Benjamin P Thomas, UT Austin
- Ben Tofflemire, UT-Austin
- Joseph Tomlinson, PSU
- Sarah Tuttle, University of Washington, External Participant, Architect
- Tanya Urrutia, Leibniz Institut für Astrophysik
- Ricardo Lopez Valdivia, UT Austin
- Marco Viero, Caltech, External Participant
- Jozsef Vinko, MTA CSFK Konkoly Observatory, Hungary, External Participant
- Lifan Wang, TAMU
- Zhenyuan Wang, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Penn State University,
- Laurel Weiss, UT Austin
- Jochen Weller, University Observatory, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich
- J. Craig Wheeler, UT Austin
- Lutz Wisotzki, AIP Potsdam, Steering Committee
- Isak Wold, NASA, External Participant
- S. Karthik Yadavalli, Pennsylvania State University
- Mathias Zechmeister, Institut für Astrophysik, Göttingen,
- Greg Zeimann, UT Austin (HET), Architect
- Yechi Zhang, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, UTokyo,
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HETDEX Architects
- Erin Mentuch Cooper, UT Austin
- Dustin Davis, UT Austin
- Max Fabricius, MPE
- Daniel Joseph Farrow, MPE
- Ulrich Hopp, University Munich
- Donghui Jeong, Penn State
- Andreas Kelz, Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, Germany
- Komatsu Eiichiro, MPA
- Martin Landriau, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Hanshin Lee, UT Austin
- Chenxu Liu, UT Austin
- Shiro Mukae, University of Tokyo, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research
- Matthew Shetrone, UT Austin
- Jan Snigula, MPE Garching
- Sarah Tuttle, University of Washington
- Gregory Zeimann, UT Austin
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HETDEX Survey Steering Committee Members
- Chair
- Neal Evans (The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Astronomy)
- Members
- Steven Finkelstein (The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Astronomy)
- Caryl Gronwall (Pennsylvania State University)
- Gary Hill (The University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory)
- Eiichiro Komatsu (MPA)
- Wolfram Kollatschny (Goettingen)
- Ariel Sanchez (MPE)
- Donghui Jeong (Pennsylvania State University)
- Lutz Wisotzki (AIP)
- Ex Officio
- Karl Gebhardt (The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Astronomy)
- Erin Mentuch Cooper (The University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory)
- Robin Ciardullo
- Chris Sneden
- Observers
- Taft Armandroff (The University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory)
- Volker Bromm (The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Astronomy)
- Ralf Bender (LMU, MPE)
- Don Schneider (Pennsylvania State University)
Participating Institutions
HETDEX has received financial support from the State of Texas, the United States Air Force, the National Science Foundation and the generous contributions of many private foundations and individuals.