NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre

Front of the Plaskett Telescope Dominion Astrophysical Observatory

The NRC Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (NRC-HIA) is the leading Canadian centre for astronomy and astrophysics.

History

Named for the Nobel laureate Gerhard Herzberg, it was formed in 1975 as part of the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. The NRC-HIA headquarters were moved to Victoria, British Columbia, in 1995 to the site of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory.

Facilities

NRC-HIA also operates the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory outside of Penticton, BC and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as well as managing Canadian involvement in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, Gemini Observatory, James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the Square Kilometre Array, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, as well as Canada's national astronomy data centre.

• The institute is also involved in the development and construction of instruments and telescopes.
• Members of NRC-HIA are currently involved in The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey.
• Members of NRC-HIA are currently involved with Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey.

The current director, as of 2013, is Gregory Fahlman.

Plaskett Fellowship

The Plaskett Fellowship is named after John Stanley Plaskett and is awarded to an outstanding, recent doctoral graduate in astrophysics or a closely related discipline. Fellows conduct independent research in a stimulating, collegial environment at the institute in Victoria, BC, Canada. Expertise in observational astrophysics is the norm, but some theoreticians were also among this distinguished group of astronomers. The past Plaskett Fellows are listed below.

Name	Position held	current position
Rucinski, Slavek	1975–77	Retired; formerly Professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Associate Director, David Dunlap Observatory, University of Toronto
Poeckert, Roland	1977–79	Unknown
Pritchet, Christopher	1978–81	Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy (former Chair), University of Victoria
Lawrie, David	1978–80	Director, Sensing and Exploitation Department, Aerospace Corporation
Quintana, Hernán	1979–81	Professor, Department of Astronomy (former Chair), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Massey, Philip	1980–83	Astronomer, Lowell Observatory
Mochnacki, Stefan	1980–82	Professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto
Harris, Hugh	1980–82	Astronomer, U.S. Naval Observatory
Stryker, Linda	1981–83	Emeritus Professor, Arizona State University
Olszewski, Edward	1982–84	Astronomer, Steward Observatory
Yee, Howard	1982–84	Professor, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto
Stetson, Peter	1983–84	Principal Research Officer, NRC-HIA
Campbell, Bruce	1983–87	Financial consultant
Smith, Graeme	1984–86	Professor, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Lick Observatory
Stauffer, John	1984–86	Research Scientist, Spitzer Science Centre
Welch, Douglas	1986–88	Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy (former Chair), McMaster University
Ratnatunga, Kavan	1986–88	Senior Research Scientist, Carnegie-Mellon University
Westpfahl, David	1986–88	Professor, Department of Physics, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Crabtree, Dennis	1986–89	Astronomer, NRC-HIA
Durand, Daniel	1986–89	Research Council Officer, NRC-HIA
Bolte, Michael	1987–90	Professor, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Lick Observatory
Friel, Eileen	1988–90	Executive Officer, Astronomical Sciences, National Science Foundation
Pierce, Michael	1988–91	Professor, University of Wyoming
Ellingson, Erica	1989–92	Associate Professor, Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder
Garnavich, Peter	1991–94	Professor, Astrophysics / Cosmology Physics, Notre Dame University
Riegler, Michael	1991–93	Program Manager, Word Business Unit, Microsoft Corporation
Abraham, Roberto	1991–94	Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toronto
Smecker-Hane, Tammy	1992–95	Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy, University of California Irvine
Côté, Patrick	1994–97	Senior Research Officer, NRC-HIA
Marzke, Ronald	1994–97	Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, San Francisco State University
Courteau, Stéphane	1996–99	Professor, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen's University
Côté, Stéphanie	1997–99	Group Leader, Canadian Gemini Office NRC-HIA
Lavezzi, Tracey Ellen	1997–99	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Barton, Elizabeth	1999–2001	Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy, University of California Irvine
van Zee, Liese	1999–2001	Assistant Professor, Astronomy, Indiana University
Fulbright, Jon	1999–2002	Research Associate, Johns Hopkins University
Sawicki, Marcin	2001–04	Professor, Astronomy and Physics, Saint Mary's University
Fiege, Jason	2002–04	Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba
Willott, Christopher	2002–06	Astronomer, Canadian Astronomy Data Centre, NRC-HIA
Johnson, Jennifer	2002–05	Assistant Professor, Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University
Peng, Eric	2004–07	Faculty Research Fellow, Department of Astronomy, Peking University
Geha, Marla	2006–07	Assistant Professor, Astronomy, Yale University
Matthews, Brenda	2004–08	Astronomer, Millimetre Astronomy Group, NRC-HIA
Onken, Chris	2005–08	Deputy Gemini Scientist, Australian Gemini Office
Puzia, Thomas H.	2006–10	Associate Professor, Institute of Astrophysics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Peng, Chien-Yi	2007–10	Scientific Programmer, Giant Magellan Telescope
Schnee, Scott	2009–2010	Assistant Scientist, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
McConnachie, Alan	2008–11	Instrumentation Scientist, NRC-HIA
Mann, Rita	2010–present	Current Fellow, NRC-HIA
Fraser, Wesley	2011–present	Current Fellow, NRC-HIA

See also

• Atacama Large Millimeter Array
• Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope
• Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
• Gemini Observatory
• James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
• Square Kilometre Array
• Thirty Meter Telescope

External links

• National science infrastructure (NRC Herzberg)
• Herzberg Astrophysics Researchers