{"id":156021,"date":"2022-03-02T11:47:37","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T21:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=156021"},"modified":"2022-03-02T11:47:37","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T21:47:37","slug":"science-fellowship-former-maunakea-telescope-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/03\/02\/science-fellowship-former-maunakea-telescope-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Prestigious science fellowship for former Maunakea telescope director"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Alan
Alan Tokunaga<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A 36-year veteran University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> astronomer captured a major national designation for his contributions to astronomy. Alan Tokunaga<\/strong>, who retired from the UH<\/abbr> Institute for Astronomy<\/a> (IfA<\/abbr>) in 2016, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science<\/a> (AAAS<\/abbr>). Fellows are elected annually by the AAAS<\/abbr> Council, and are recognized for their achievements in research, teaching and technology; administration in academia, industry and government; and excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.<\/p>\n

“To me, it\u2019s a privilege to have had the opportunity to study the universe,” Tokunaga expressed. “I think it\u2019s important for society to know our place in the universe. By having this perspective of where we are, it makes me think that our planet Earth and life is very precious.”<\/p>\n

\"Telescope
The NASA<\/abbr> Infrared Telescope Facility telescope on Maunakea during a lunar eclipse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During his decades-long career at IfA<\/abbr>,Tokunaga specialized in building astronomical instrumentation and conducting research in solar system, interstellar medium and star formation. He began working at IfA<\/abbr> in 1980 as a support astronomer and later served as director of the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility<\/a> on Maunakea 2000–16. The 3.2-meter telescope is one of several observatories on Maunakea and Haleakal\u0101 that play a key role in the nation\u2019s planetary defense system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tokunaga remains busy with professional service to the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> astronomy community and research. He dedicates time mentoring Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> teens at L\u0101naʻi<\/span> High School for Maunakea Scholars<\/a>, an educational outreach program where public school students can apply for observing time on Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> telescopes. Tokunaga has also participated in the development of A Hua He Inoa<\/a>, a program where Hawaiian speaking students work with Hawaiian educators and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>-based astronomers on naming astronomical discoveries.<\/p>\n

“Alan is incredibly deserving of this national recognition for his numerous contributions to astronomy,” said IfA<\/abbr> Director Doug Simons<\/strong>. “His Maui roots are reflected in his deep commitments to our community and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> astronomy. Helping future generations through his work with local students and the A Hua He Inoa program is his passion, from which we all benefit.”<\/p>\n

Tokunaga was inducted as a Fellow at the ceremonial Fellows Forum on January 26, 2022, a time-honored event at the AAAS<\/abbr> annual meeting, where honorees are presented with a certificate and blue and gold rosette.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alan Tokunaga was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[35,698,9],"class_list":["post-156021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-institute-for-astronomy","tag-staff-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156021"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156057,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156021\/revisions\/156057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}