Physics Dept. Co-Chairperson & Professor of Astronomy

• Email: takamiya@hawaii.edu
• Phone: (808) 932-7194
• Location: Hilo
• Office: STB-221

Dr. Takamiya obtained her B.Sc. in Physics and M.Sc. in Astronomy from the Universidad de Chile in 1990 and 1991, respectively, and her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics, from the University of Chicago, in 1992 and 1998, respectively. She carried out post-doctoral research as a Gemini Science Fellow at Gemini Observatory and subsequently as a Research Associate, with the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, at UH Hilo.

Her teaching responsibilities at UH Hilo are General Physics, General Astronomy, and Stellar Astronomy.

Physics Dept. Co-Chairperson, Assoc. Professor of Astronomy

• Email: rpm33@hawaii.edu
• Phone: (808) 932-7028 U
• Location: Hilo
• Office: STB-222

Dr. R. Pierre Martin is an Associate Professor of Astronomy and the Director of the UH Hilo Educational Observatory. He earned his MS and PhD in astrophysics at Universite Laval in Quebec, Canada. He has held post-doctoral fellowship positions at Steward Observatory in Arizona, and with the European Southern Observatory New Technology Telescope in Chile. Between 1997 and 2008, Dr. Martin was a resident astronomer at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Maunakea, and its Director of Science Operations for six years. Prior to joining UH Hilo, he was the Executive Director of the WIYN 3.5m telescope on Kitt Peak (Arizona) and also a consultant for the Giant Magellan Telescope project.

Dr. Martin fields of research include the evolution of the Milky Way, massive star formation in galaxies, galaxy morphology, planetary nebulae, telescopes and instrumentation, astronomy from the Moon, and the optimization of the observational process for professional observatories. Outside of work, he is a rock music drummer and an amateur historian, and he enjoys time at home with his wife and cats.

Specialist Faculty and Program Lead

• Email: branden.allen@hawaii.edu
• Phone: (808) 932-2351
• Location: Hilo
• Office: IfA-Hilo (216)

Dr. Branden Allen is an Astronomer and Planetary Scientist who has spent the bulk of his career at the intersection of detector and telescope development; aerospace and electrical engineering; and the space sciences. His past and present research activities center on the creation of multi-use space-qualified systems and key technologies to enable the observation of energetic astrophysical phenomena and the characterization of nearby bodies within our own Solar System. The ultimate aims of these efforts have been the elucidation of the formation history and evolution of our universe, our own planetary system, and to aid in the search for resources that will help promote and sustain the future expansion of human activities throughout the Solar System in the years ahead.

After completing his Ph.D. (2007) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in high-energy astrophysics at TeV energy scales using ground-based particle detector arrays, he transitioned to the development of pixelated spaceflight X/γ-ray high-Z semiconductor detectors and systems at the Harvard College Observatory (HCO), a part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard-Smithsonian (CfA). There he played a leading role in two successful high-altitude balloon campaigns as well as the conception, design and operation of a soft X-ray imaging spectrometer for the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission for global characterization of the composition of the target near Earth asteroid, 101955 Bennu.

Assistant Specialist Faculty

• Email: trevor.shimokusu@hawaii.edu
• Location: Mānoa
• Office: Holmes Hall (202)
• Phone: (808) 956-4391

Originally from the island of Hawaiʻi, Dr. Trevor Shimokusu joined the Space Science and Engineering Initiative faculty cohort in the College of Engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in September 2024. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University in August 2024, and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in May 2019. Shimokusu was awarded a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity to fund his doctoral studies on nonlinear thermal devices and systems. His lab’s research interests include phase-change heat transfer on wettability patterned surfaces, two-phase flows in oscillating heat pipes, and thermomagnetic devices for nonlinear thermal control in energy and space applications.

Assistant Specialist Faculty

• Email: vievard@hawaii.edu
• Location: Hilo
• Office: TBD
• Phone: TBD

Dr. Sébastien Vievard will be joining the Space Science and Engineering Initiative in January 2025. His studies were conducted at the Université Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, where he received a M.S. in Space-based System Engineering in 2013 and a PhD in Physics in 2017. His doctoral work was focused on developing focal plane wavefront sensing techniques to cophase segmented optical telescopes. Following his PhD, in 2018, he joined the SCExAO team at the Subaru Telescope, in Hawaiʻi, as an Exoplanet Instrumentation post-doctoral fellow. His work focuses on developing instrumentation to probe circumstellar environments and search for/characterize exoplanets and/or protoplanets. He specializes in astrophotonics devices, interferometry, spectroscopy and wavefront sensing.

Assistant Specialist Faculty

• Email: chris.hamner@hawaii.edu
• Location: Hilo
• Office: IfA-Hilo
• Phone: (808) 932-2331

Dr. Chris Hamner has a background in applied physics, and is part of the Space Science and Engineering Initiative group in Hilo. He was born and educated in the Pacific Northwest where he received his Ph.D from Washington State University studying Bose-Einstein Condensates. Following a decade of industry experience designing laser optics and radio frequency sensors, he has joined the SSEI to support advancements in ground based astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi.