Karen O'Neil
We are pleased to announce that Karen O'Neil has been named the new Assistant Director for Green Bank Operations, effective October 1, 2008. Karen has done an outstanding job as the Interim Assistant Director for Green Bank since May 2008, when she stepped in following the departure of Richard Prestage. Before that, Karen served as the Head of Program Development for Green Bank Operations. In that capacity, Karen was responsible for coordinating the development program for the GBT, which presently includes the Precision Telescope Control Project for developing the high frequency capability of the GBT, the MUSTANG bolometer camera, the K band (1.3 cm) Focal Plane Array, the GUPPI Pulsar Backend, and the Dynamic Scheduling Project. Karen is also the Project Manager and Project Scientist for the Dynamic Scheduling project, which has just finished a successful test run over the summer. Karen has served in several previous capacities in Green Bank, including the GBT Spectrometer instrument scientist. Before coming to Green Bank, Karen was a scientist at the Arecibo Observatory. She received her Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Oregon.
The GBT will have tremendous opportunities over the next few years to expand its scientific capabilities. The development of focal plane array cameras has been identified as the top priority for the GBT – and an Observatory priority -- and offers the potential of increasing the observing speed of the GBT by factors of 10 to 1000. We are confident that Karen's leadership and the skill and hard work of the staff can make this a reality.
Please join us in congratulating Karen on her appointment.