Candidate Statement

The HEAD meetings provide a unique venue for the diverse branches of high energy astrophysics to meet. In a time of very specialized conferences, this is an extremely important forum that encourages cross discipline interaction. In particular, the meetings are one of a few places where future instrumentation and mission concepts are presented to the science community.

Having been involved in both instrumentation and science sides, I know how useful it is for the designers and builders of next generation instrumentation to have an idea of the science that they are building and designing for. With the affordable CUBEsat platforms becoming more common as an alternative to expensive and strongly competed satellite opportunities, it is even more important for budding instrumentalist with a great idea to have access to a place where the forefront of high energy astrophysics is discussed.

HEAD has done well on this front, but there is room for improvement. In particular, I believe, there is an issue of getting out word because of low membership numbers in the AAS and HEAD among postdocs. From personal experience, I know part of it this is because of the high AAS membership dues relative to membership benefits for a postdoc. But, in addition, people involved in instrumentation may simply feel it is not relevant for them to become members.

If I am elected, it will be my pleasure to continue help bridging this gap and create a forum for expansion that is beneficial for all.

Staff Scientist, Caltech

Candidate Statement

As a graduate student, I had no idea what I wanted to do for my dissertation work. That all changed when I visited the High Energy Astrophysics group at NASA Goddard, and got hooked on high-resolution X-ray microcalorimeters. I’ve been working with X-ray microcalorimeters ever since. I’d be honored to serve on the exec for HEAD, especially now as we open the gravitational wave window, and think about how to move HEA into the next decades, where transients, surveys, and deep observations will all play a major role in pushing our science forward.

Associate Professor, Northwestern University

Candidate Statement

I got hooked on astronomy while growing up on a sheep station in the Australian bush. These days I live in beautiful Bozeman Montana, where I teach at Montana State University and serve as Director of the newly establish eXtreme Gravity Institute (http://www.montana.edu/xgi/). My research covers most of the gravitational wave spectrum - I am a member of the NANOGrav pulsar timing collaboration, the LISA study team, and a member of the LIGO scientific collaboration. I am particularly interested in developing synergies between high energy electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations. I am well acquainted with HEAD and the broader astronomy community, in part from having severed on a wide array of panels and committees, including two terms on the NASA astrophysics advisory subcommittee, the NASA 30 Year Roadmap, the Cosmology and Fundamental Physics science panel for the 2010 Decadal Survey, and the recent Midterm Decadal review. I expect to be a productive member of the HEAD executive - while serving in a similar role for the Astrophysics Division of the APS I helped establish the DAP thesis award and the Hot Topics in Astrophysics session at the April APS meeting.

Professor, Montana State University

Candidate Statement

Members of HEAD research a wide variety of phenomena in astronomy and astrophysics, covering "high energy events, particles, quanta, relativistic gravitational fields, and related phenomena in the astrophysical universe." Now that gravitational wave astronomy has finally begun, HEAD has an exciting opportunity to represent and promote the results from multi-messenger astronomy that may be forthcoming. As a member of the HEAD executive committee, I would work toward representing the gravitational wave astronomy community, many of whom are already members of HEAD, and encourage a greater participation.

Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology