The Akamai team

Dr. Kaluna is an alumn of the Akamai program. She has served as an instructor for the PREP Course and coaching interns for presenting their project abstracts at the Akamai symposia.  She is currently Assistant Professor of Astronomy at UH Hilo. 

Nicole coordinates all events big and small that support the programmatic goals of ISEE. She implements and synchronizes the logistics of the many program workshops, symposia, retreats, conferences, presentations, faculty meetings, and partnership activities both on and off campus, and provides event support. Nicole facilitates ISEE program application and selection processes, and serves as the point of contact with participants from registration through wrap-up. She provides the main administrative support for ISEE with scheduling meetings, processing travel reimbursements and assisting with procurement functions. Nicole works full-time for ISEE as a UCSC staff member.

Mike Nassir has been involved with the Akamai internship program since 2009. He has served as an instructor for the PREP course and the communication course, including mid-point check-ins, site visits, and coaching interns for presenting their findings at the Akamai symposia. He is an Instructor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.

Austin Barnes has a long history with Akamai, beginning in 2009 when he was an Akamai intern, and continuing in many leadership roles including serving as Akamai’s program manager from 2015-2019. In his role as an ISEE program manager he has been a key member of the teams that developed and taught ISEE’s Mentor Workshop, Professional Development Program, and other training activities aimed at early career scientists and engineers. Currently, he is working toward his PhD at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego, studying the coastal impacts of sea level rise, and is in the pool of instructors that Akamai draws from for the Mentor Workshop, PREP course, and communication course.

Stacey Sueoka is from Kauai and has been involved with the Akamai Program since 2007 when she participated as an intern, completing her internship at Textron on Maui. She is now an optical group manager for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, and is an active member of Akamai’s instructional team, and serves as an Akamai mentor. She teaches in the PREP course and communication course, assisting in mid-point check-ins and coaching interns for presenting their findings at the final symposia.