Previously, I was an Operations Astronomer at the 
Space Telescope Science Institute
employed by the Computer Sciences Corporation, a subcontractor to the
Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy, where I worked
on the Hubble project for the 20+ years. In May 2000, I transferred
to the Software Test Team (STT) as a Software Testing Engineer with
primary responsibility for testing the OPUS/DADS interface (operational
data acquisition and processing system and the data archive).
I was the sole tester on the new PROMPT system to provide automated alert
notices to observers and Institute personnel when an anomaly occurs with
any data, an instrument or a spacecraft safing. The implementation is
primarily a GUI interface and I was heavily involved in tracking
issues and providing input for improvements and future enhancements that
make the system more user friendly and productive for the user.
Previously, I was an
Instrument Scientist/Contact Scientist with the
Space Telescope Imaging
Spectrograph (STIS) Team [Spectrographs Group
] and served as the Head of the User Support Block of
the Spectrographs Group.
Before joining the STIS Team I was an IS/CS with the
Goddard
High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) Team.
As a CS, I acted as scientific liaison with astronomers proposing to use HST. The CS supports the astronomer from beginning to end, that is, from the time he/she is designing the proposal to reducing the data received. As a GHRS Instrument Scientist, I was responsible for analyzing wavelength and detector calibration observations. Additionally, one of my primary tasks with the GHRS Team was acting as the Data Quality Assessment Coordinator, developing procedures and guidelines for data quality assessment and monitoring of team members performance. As a STIS IS, I worked in the area of Spectroscopic Wavelength calibration analysis (including development, submission and analysis of 6 HST STIS calibration monioring program + design and development of the STIS parallel proposal to observe Galactic plane HII regions and supernova remnants). As the Head of the User Support Block of the Spectrographs Group, I managed the Block whose task is to provide support to HST users with reviews of Phase II proposals, desimination of instrument/policy updates to the community, provide database reports as needed for statistical tracking and management analysis, reviewed and updateed documentation and oversaw support provided to HST users during visits for data analysis. Additional responsibilities included testing STIS related software fixes, preparing and editing the Space Telescope Analysis Newsletter (STAN) and Lead for the STIS Help Desk.
I continue to pursue various research programs, and have published ~55 scientific papers, posters, and discovery notes during the past 36 years. My research has been concentrated on the discovery and photometric and spectroscopic observation of variable stars, including 'normal' eclipsing binaries and cataclysmic variables. My primary research project currently is the continuing analysis of the Sandage Two-color Survey of the Galactic Plane. Several new catalogs have been published in recent years leading to discoveries and follow-up studies of two new CVs and several new white dwarfs and other peculiar objects. This project is currently supported by a 3-year NASA Astrophysics Data Program grant (awarded Sept. 1997; begun June 1998).
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