able the scientific leadership of our com-
munity through the next decade. that NCOA succeeds at meeting the needs
of the entire Gemini community.
Gemini is well-positioned to be the lead-
ing transient follow-up facility for the Large
Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and gravi-
tational wave sources, but these new oppor-
tunities must be balanced against the needs
of the general Gemini observer community.
Our strong visiting instrument program,
new partnership with the Korea Astronomy
and Space Science Institute, new facility in-
struments — Spectrograph and Camera for
Observations of Rapid Phenomena in the
Infrared and Optical (SCORPIO) and Gem-
ini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph
(GHOST) — and new funding to develop
GNAO are all steps in the right direction to-
ward a strong instrumentation suite. Crafting a robust strategy to achieve these
goals will require many conversations with
all stakeholders: the Gemini user communi-
ties, the Gemini Observatory Board, inter-
national partners, NSF, and the Association
of Universities for Research in Astronomy
(AURA); the cross-observatory partnerships,
including LSST, NOAO, and Maunakea ob-
servatories; local communities; and most
importantly, the Gemini Observatory staff.
The incorporation of Gemini Observatory
into the new National Center for Optical-
infrared Astronomy (NCOA) offers a unique
opportunity to leverage the intellectual
and infrastructure assets of the NCOA insti-
tutions (which include Gemini, the current
NOAO, and LSST). My job will be to ensure
2
GeminiFocus
I hope to engage with as many of our com-
munity members and staff as possible in
the coming months in order to develop our
collective vision for the future of Gemini.
I have found that working with talented,
dedicated, and diverse teams of people
toward the common goal of pushing the
boundaries of human knowledge to be a
great thrill and privilege.
Jennifer Lotz is the Gemini Observatory Director.
She can be reached at: [email protected]
October 2018