TEAM LEADER

Shadia Rifai Habbal

• • • • • Affiliation:  Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i, USA
      • Group Role:  Team Leader
    • 2019 Eclipse Role:  Rodeo, Argentina site leader
    • Background:  Shadia lives in Honolulu where she is a Professor at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawai’i.  She was born and raised in Damascus, Syria, where she attended the University of Damascus. She then attended the University of Beirut before moving to the US.  She earned her Doctorate degree in Physics from the University of Cincinnati. Shadia’s love of physics and the Sun has taken her to different parts of the world to observe the Sun’s corona during total solar eclipses.  She began studying the Sun and planned a trip to observe the total solar eclipse in India in 1995, thus beginning the history of the Solar Wind Sherpas. Shadia’s research expertise is in diagnostic approaches for exploring the physics of the corona, solar wind and coronal mass ejections, using imaging and spectroscopic observations from total solar eclipses.  She has led 15 scientific eclipse expeditions, with the latest three in 2015, 2016, and 2017 involving multiple observing sites.

CO-FOUNDER

Judd Johnson

• Group Role: All around Super Technician
• Affiliation: 
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Rodeo, Argentina Site
• Previous Eclipses:  As many as Shadia!
• Background:

2019 SHERPAS (Alphabetically)

Peter Aniol

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  ASTELCO Systems, Germany
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Team Member
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background:  Peter is Co-Founder and Managing Director of ASTELCO Systems, a company that specializes in professional telescopes.  The entire ASTELCO team consists of people that have been involved with astronomy for a very long time.

Hayley Arndt

• Group Role: Sherpa in Training
• Affiliation:  Grafton High School, Grafton, Massachusetts, USA
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Mascasin, Argentina Team member
• Previous Eclipses:  Alliance, NE (2017)
• Background: Hayley, the youngest team member, is entering high school in 2019. She is an honors student, a dancer, and daughter of two solar wind sherpas: Martina and Rob. At the 2017 eclipse she was already asking to see the 2019 event.

Martina Arndt

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, USA
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Mascasin, Argentina site leader
• Previous Eclipses:  Mongolia (1997), Antigua/Guadalupe (1998), Zambia (2001), South Africa (2002), Libya (2006), China (2008), the Marshall Islands (2009), Tatakoto (2010), Australia (2012), Svalbard (2015), Alliance, NE (2017)
• Background:  Martina is a Professor of Physics at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.  She grew up in Newton, MA and has spent her entire life living in New England.  She attended Wellesley College as an undergraduate and the University of New Hampshire as a graduate student where she earned her MS and PhD. She teaches both introductory and upper level physics and astronomy classes and is heavily involved in public outreach. She is a strong advocate for informal science education.  Martina has been a Sherpa since 1997.  Her roles have included helping in the set up of equipment and running experiments.

Sarah Auriemma

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, USA
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Mascasin, Argentina site member
• Previous Eclipses:  None
• Background: Sarah is currently in her last semester as an undergraduate at Bridgewater State University. Once completed she will obtain a bachelor’s degree in Physics and be the first woman at the university to graduate with concentration in Optics. Sarah has research interests in computational methods, computer simulations in physics, and solar physics. This is her first eclipse, but she hopes it’s not her last. She is looking to apply to graduate schools to pursue a higher degree in the future.

Tülin Bedel

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: ASTELCO Systems, Germany
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Mascasin, Argentina site member
• Previous Eclipses: Alliance, NE (2017)
• Background: Tülin is originally from Turkey.  She currently lives in Germany and works at ASTELCO Systems.  She studied Physics at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University in Turkey.  Her thesis work focused on the light-time effect in eclipsing binary stars.  Tülin’s first total solar eclipse experience was in 2006 in Turkey.

Benjamin Boe

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: Institute for Astronomy, UH, USA
• 2019 Eclipse Role: run the 3 channel spectrometer at Mascasin, Argentina site
• Previous Eclipses:  Indonesia (2016), Alliance, NE (2017)
• Background: Ben is from Tacoma, WA, USA.  He attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma where he graduated with a double major in Physics and Mathematics.  He is currently a graduate student at the IfA, UH working on his thesis using narrow band eclipse data.  This will be Ben’s third eclipse expedition.

Sage Constantinou

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  CTIO site member
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background: 

Adalbert Ding

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: Technical University & Inst. Fur Technische Physik, Berlin, Germany
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Site member at Rodeo, Argentina
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background:

Miloslav Druckmüller

• Group Role: Calibration and processing of eclipse data
• Affiliation: Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Key role in planning of experiments, software for controlling cameras, eclipse image processing
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background: Milos is from Brno, Czech Republic.  He is a Professor at the Institute of Mathematics at Brno University of Technology.  His background is primarily in Mathematics, having earned his graduate degree in the subject from Masaryk University Brno.  He has developed a number of procedures in Borland Delphi for total solar eclipse image processing.  Thanks to his image processing methods, the Sherpas have the best eclipse data, precise with details, in the world.  Milos’s first eclipse expedition was in 1999 (Hungary).  He began collaborations with Peter Aniol (fellow Sherpa) in 2005 (South Pacific) and joined the Sherpas in 2009 (Marshall Islands).

Zuzana Druckmüllerova

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Team member
• Previous Eclipses: China (2009), Whiskey Mountain (2017)
• Background: Zuzana is from Brno and is a member of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Brno University of Technology.  Her background is in Computer Science.  She has been a Sherpa since 2009.  This year she is part of the “Whiskey Mountain Trio” and will observe the Sun’s corona in white light.

Stephen Fearn

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: Aberystwyth University, Cymru, UK
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Technical support and development of a 3 channel spectrometer
• Previous Eclipses: 2017
• Background: Steve is the Technical Manager for Teaching and Research Laboratories at Aberystwyth University in Wales.  He has been involved with research as well as teaching research projects for many years.  He is also responsible for the development of the Solar Tracking Telescope facility at Aberystwyth, which utilizes white light and Hα telescopes to monitor Solar activity.  Additionally, Steve is responsible for the engagement side of Solar activities for Aberystwyth University.  This will be his first expedition as a Sherpa.

Feras Habbal

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  Research Scientist at Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  CTIO site member
• Previous Eclipses:  India (1995), Mongolia (1997), Zambia (2001 ), Faroe Islands (2015), Idaho (2017)
• Background: My background in Mechanical Engineering spans experimental design (BS from UT-Austin) and computational mechanics (PhD from Caltech). Recent research at the University of Texas at Austin has included fieldwork and data analysis focused on assessing the stability of major glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica using data from airborne geophysics surveys. Currently I am leveraging numerical models to study the role of ocean forcing on glacial melt rates in Greenland and the impact of enhanced freshwater and freshening of the Arctic on global circulation.

Robert Havasy

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Massachusetts
• 2019 Eclipse Role: General technician and logistics at Mascasin, Argentina site
• Previous Eclipses: Zambia (2001), South Africa (2002), Alliance, NE (2017)
• Background: Rob was born in New Jersey and lives in Massachusetts where he works at HIMSS as a Senior Director of Health Information Systems.  He graduated from Keene State College with a BS in Environmental Science and from Brandeis University with an MS in Health and Medical Informatics.  His current work focuses on connected health, which is gathering and using data generated by patients outside of clinical settings in healthcare decision-making.  Rob began his career as a Chemist and an Atomic Spectroscopists doing elemental analysis for an instrument manufacturer.  His interest in the Sun began when he met his wife, Martina Arndt (fellow Sherpa) in the mid-90s.

Rydia Hayes-Huer

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, USA
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Mascasin, Argentina site member
• Previous Eclipses:  None
• Background: Rydia is an undergraduate student at BSU, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physics with an astrophysics concentration. This will be her first total solar eclipse AND first time in South America. She is incredibly grateful to be part of the 2019 eclipse expedition and is already enjoying solar physics research.

Jana Hoderova

• Group Role: Team Leader at CTIO;  coordination of logistics for Brno group; software testing
• Affiliation: Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Team leader for CTIO site
• Previous Eclipses:  Faroe Islands (2015), Indonesia (2016), Whiskey Mountain, WY (2017)
• Background: Jana is from Blansko, Czech Republic, and is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Mathematics at Brno University of Technology.  She has followed Milos Druckmüller’s (fellow Sherpa) work for years.  Her first eclipse experience was in 1999 when she observed from the roof of her university (partial eclipse in Czech Republic).  Jana has been a Sherpa since 2015 and has helped Pavel Štahra (fellow sherpa) with testing of software for the cameras.

Benedikt Justen

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Mascasin, Argentina site member
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background: 

Mike Kentrianakis

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  International Astronomical Union
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Freelance Documentarist
• Previous Eclipses: Since 1979, Mike has seen 11 total, 6 annular, and 4 partial eclipses  – two with the Solar Wind Sherpas: Australia (2012) and Svalbard (2015)
• Background:  Mike is an eclipse enthusiast who is an online video producer (here’s a video – and another!) and science writer (here’s an article – and another!) He earned a BA in film and television at NYU and an MA in comparative literature from SUNY Stonybrook. He was a producer at CBS for 20 years.

Enrico Landi

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Rodeo Site member
• Previous Eclipses: Mitchell, OR (2017)
• Background: Enrico is a Professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  He is originally from Italy where he carried out his undergraduate and graduate studies in his hometown of Florence.  Before joining UM, Enrico worked in Germany and at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).  His research interests are in solar physics, spectroscopy and atomic physics.  His work aims at understanding the nature, variability and activity of the solar corona, and its effects on the Heliosphere and on Earth.  This will be Enrico’s second eclipse expedition with the Sherpas.

Gabriel Muro

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Rodeo site member
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background: 

Michael Nassir

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: University of Hawai’i Manoa, USA
• 2019 Eclipse Role: CTIO Site member
• Previous Eclipses: Guernsey, WY (2017)
• Background: Mike was born, raised, and attended college in Southern California, earning a BSc in Physics from California Institute of Technology.  He moved to Hawai’i to pursue an MSc in Astronomy from the University of Hawai’i in Manoa where he is now an instructor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.  Mike has had a lifelong love of Astronomy and has participated in a number of observational projects on near-Earth asteroid searches, pulsating variable stars, solar energetic particles, rotation periods of cometary nuclei, and infrared and microwave observations of protostars in nearby star-forming regions.  He is excited to be a part of the Sherpas and study the Sun, an area of astronomy new to him, and to experience a total solar eclipse for the second time as part of a scientific expedition.

Francesca Schironi

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  University of Michigan
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Rodeo, Argentina site member
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background:I am Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan. My research interests focus on three main areas, Hellenistic scholarship and literary and sub-literary papyrology, Hellenistic science, and reception studies.

Alina Schmalz

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Rodeo, Argentina site member
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background: 

Dan Smith

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, USA
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Rodeo, Argentina site member
• Previous Eclipses:  None
• Background:Dan is an undergraduate at BSU studying Computer Science and Physics with an Astrophysics concentration. This past academic year he assembled a Spectrograph for the BSU observatory and is using it to capture spectra of stars such as Betelgeuse. This will be his first Total Solar Eclipse expedition and first time traveling to Argentina and Chile. He looks forward to meeting and working with everyone!

Pavel Štarha

• Group Role: Software for cameras
• Affiliation: Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
• 2019 Eclipse Role: Software for controlling cameras; Rodeo, Argentina site
• Previous Eclipses:  Kenya (2013), Svalbard (2015), Indonesia (2016), Mitchell, OR (2017)
• Background: Pavel is from Nedvedice, a village in the Czech Republic.  He currently lives in Brno where he is an Associated Professor at the Institute of Mathematics at Brno University of Technology.  He has a background in Mathematical Engineering, with an MSc and a Doctorate degree from Brno University of Technology.  Pavel’s first total solar eclipse was in 2006 in Turkey where he observed it with his twin brother, Petr (fellow Sherpa).  He has a been Sherpas since 2013, but has collaborated with Milos Druckmüller (fellow Sherpa) for a long time.  Pavel is a very good programmer and plays a key role in programing the software for controlling the Atik and Canon cameras.

Petr Štarha

• Group Role: Team member
• Affiliation: Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
• 2019 Eclipse Role: CTIO site member
• Previous Eclipses:  Faroe Islands (2015), Indonesia (2016), Whiskey Mountain, WY (2017)
• Background: Petr is from Nedvedice, a village in the Czech Republic.  He works as Facility Manager in Secondary School in Bystrice nad Pernstejnem, Czech Republic.  He has a Certificate of Apprentorship in Electromachinery and also in Tool Manufacturing.  Petr has a lot of experience setting up mounts for the Atik cameras used for eclipse observations.  He completed the equipment used for the observations carried out in the Faroe Islands in 2015.

Danilo Torres

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  Mascasin, Argentina site member
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background: 

Bryan Yamashiro

• Group Role:  Team member
• Affiliation:  
• 2019 Eclipse Role:  CTIO site member
• Previous Eclipses: 
• Background: 

Honorary Sherpa