Job Title: Telescope System Specialist for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope at East Asian Observatory
School: Waiakea HS
What does Maunakea Scholars mean to you?
I feel so lucky that I get to work with the Maunakea Scholars program and help support students as they develop their own research projects to tackle the mysteries of the universe. While there is a long legacy of astronomical exploration here in Hawai’i, unfortunately, many locals feel disconnected from the incredible science research that is happening here on the island. I see how the Maunakea Scholars program is helping change that and allowing students to take advantage of the incredible astronomical resources we have here on our island home. I’ve been incredibly impressed by the questions the scholars ask and humbled by the way these students work together to put together telescope proposals to challenge our understanding of the cosmos. One of my favorite memories was listening to our scholars present on the work they accomplished and getting to enjoy a spoken word/rap performance about searching for water on Mars!