Project Engineer
Resume:
Curriculum Vitae
Taylor S. Chonis
The University of Texas
Department of Astronomy Office: RLM 17.304
**** ********, **** ***** ****** Phone: 512-***-****
Austin, Texas 78712-1205 Cell Phone: 816-***-****
http://webspace.utexas.edu/tsc494/********.************@*****.**.******.***
Education:
University of Texas at Austin (UT)
Ph.D. Astronomy
Advisor Hill, Gary J.
In Progress Expected Degree Date: May 2015
University of Texas at Austin
M.A. Astronomy
Thesis Development of a New Low Resolution Spectrograph for Probing Lyman- Emitters
in the
HETDEX Survey
Advisors Hill, Gary J.; Gebhardt, Karl
Graduation Date August 2011
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)
B.S. Physics (Astronomy track), Minor: Mathematics Highest Distinction
Senior Thesis Variability Monitoring of GH2-217, an Intermediate Mass AGN Candidate
Advisor Gaskell, C. Martin
Graduation Date December 2008
Research Interests:
Optical and infrared astronomical instrumentation
Galactic evolution
Observational cosmology
Active galactic nuclei
Research & Work Experience:
UT: Astronomy DepartmentGraduate Research AssistantSeptember 2009present
Advisor Hill, Gary J.
Project Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment VIRUS & LRS2 Engineering
UT: McDonald Observatory
Research Engineer/Scientist AssociateJanuary 2009-August 2009
Supervisor Hill, Gary J.
Project - Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment VIRUS Engineering
Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO)
REU Research AssistantSummer 2008
Advisors Claver, Chuck F.; Sebag, Jacques
Project Title Site Characterization of El Penon: Site of the Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope
University of Hawaii: Institute for Astronomy (UH IfA)
REU Research AssistantSummer 2007
Advisor Hodapp, Klaus W.
Project Title Refurbishment & Testing of the University of Hawaii Quick Infrared
Camera
CVT.S. Chonis
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UNL:
Department of Physics & AstronomyUndergraduate Research Assistant2005-2008
Advisor Gaskell, C. Martin
Project Monitoring the Variability of Active Galactic Nuclei
Observing & Data Reduction Experience:
Magellan Baade (IMACS) 1 night, January 2012
Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (Goodman HTS) 3 nights, February 2011
McDonald Observatory (2.7m, VIRUS-P) 5 nights, February 2010
McDonald Observatory (0.8m, PFC) 20+ nights per year, 2010
Kitt Peak National Observatory (2.1m, GCAM, SQIID) 4 nights, July 2008
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (0.9m, CFCCD) 3 nights, July 2008
Gemini North Observatory (Guest Queue Observer) 1 night, August 2007
United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UTFI) 1 night, July 2007
The Miller Observatory (0.5m, 0.4m) 30+ nights per year, 2006 - 2008
UNL Student Observatory (0.4m) 30+ nights per year, 2004 - 2005
Teaching Experience:
UT: Astronomy Department
Guest LecturerOctober 2, 2009
Intro. To Astronomy (AST301)
UNL: Department of Physics & Astronomy
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant2005-2008
Advisor - Leung, Kam-Ching
Descriptive Astronomy (ASTR103); [5 semesters]
Honors Descriptive Astronomy (ASTR103H); [4 semesters]
Intro. To Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASTR204); [3 semesters]
Astronomy and Astrophysics Laboratory (ASTR224); [3 semesters]
Honors and Awards:
UT-Astronomy Dept.: Board of Visitors Graduate Student Second Year Research Defense Award
2011
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship 2011-present
NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Research Fellowship 2008
NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium Scholarship 2008
UNL-Dept. of Physics & Astronomy: Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship 2007
UNL-UCARE Undergraduate Research Grant 2006, 2007
UNL-Dept. of Physics & Astronomy: Stowell Fund Scholarship 2006, 2007
Delta Upsilon Doc Jones Scholarship 2006, 2007
Department/Community Service:
UH IfA: Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor s Information Station
Volunteer; Mauna Kea,
Hawaii July-August 2007
UNL: Dept. of Physics & Astronomy/Lincoln Public Schools; Saturday Science Lab Instructor
February
2006, February 2007
Nebraska State Museum; Astronomy Day Volunteer April 2005, May 2006, April 2007, May
2008
Student Observatory; Public Night Volunteer 2005-2007
CV T.S. Chonis
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Computer Skills:
Operating systems: Windows, Redhat Linux, Mac OSx
Software Packages: Adobe CS5, AutoCAD, IRAF, Microsoft Office Suite, SolidWorks, Zemax
Languages: C, HTML, LaTeX, Matlab, Python, IDL
Academic Affiliations:
SPIE Student Member
American Astronomical Society Junior Member
Phi Beta Kappa - Academic Honor Society, Alpha of Nebraska Chapter
CV
T.S. Chonis
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Publications:
CV
T.S. Chonis
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Presentations:
1. Methods for evaluating the performance of volume phase holographic gratings for the
VIRUS spectrograph
array, SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for
Astronomy IV,
#8446-209 (Poster, 2012: Amsterdam, NL)
2. Design and construction progress of LRS2-B: a new low resolution integral field
spectrograph for the Hobby-
Eberly Telescope, SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation, Ground-based and Airborne
Instrumentation for
Astronomy IV, #8446-103 (Poster, 2012: Amsterdam, NL)
3. HETDEX: Developing the HET s Second Generation Low Resolution Spectrograph for Probing
Ly Emitting
th
Galaxies, 219 Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, #424.19 (Poster, 2012:
Austin, TX)
4. Photometry of the Stellar Tidal Stream in the Halo of Messier 63, Frank N. Bash
Symposium 2011: New
Horizons in Astronomy (Poster, 2011: Austin, TX)
5. Development of a cryogenic system for the VIRUS array of 150 spectrographs for the
Hobby-Eberly Telescope,
SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for
Astronomy III, #7735-
265 (Poster, 2010: San Diego, CA)
th
6. Site Characterization of El Penon: The Site of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope,
213 Meeting of the
American Astronomical Society, #460.24 (Poster, 2009: Long Beach, CA)
7. Determining the Host Galaxy Contribution in Active Galactic Nuclei Measurements Using
Hubble Space
th
Telescope Images, 14 UNL Undergraduate Research Conference (Poster, 2008: Lincoln, NE)
th
8. Setting UBVRI Photometric Zero-Points Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey ugriz Magnitudes,
211 Meeting of
the American Astronomical Society, #132.15 (Poster, 2008: Austin, TX)
9. Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey ugriz Magnitudes for Calibrating CCD Johnson-Cousins
Photometry of AGNs,
th
37 Mid-America Regional Astrophysics Conference (Oral, 2007: Kansas City, MO)
10. Photometric Calibrations of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and its Application to the
Photometry of Active
th
Galactic Nuclei, 13 UNL Undergraduate Research Conference (Poster, 2007: Lincoln, NE)
CV
T.S. Chonis
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References:
- Dr. Gary J. Hill
University of Texas at Austin
Department of Astronomy
1 University Station, C1400
Austin, Texas 78712-0259
Phone: 512-***-****
****@*****.**.******.***
- Dr. Karl Gebhardt
University of Texas at Austin
Department of Astronomy
1 University Station, C1400
Austin, Texas 78712-0259
Phone: 512-***-****
********@*****.**.******.***
- Dr. Chuck F. Claver
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
950 North Cherry Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85719
*******@****.***
- Dr. C. Martin Gaskell
University of Valparaiso
Departmento de Fisica y Astronomia
Av. Gran Bretana 1111
Valparaiso CHILE
Phone: +52-32-299-****
********@***.**.**
CV T.S. Chonis
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