The Akamai team

As the Director of ISEE, Lisa oversees the development, implementation, and evaluation of ISEE programs, including the Akamai Workforce Initiative. Lisa has served as the Director of the Akamai Workforce Initiative since inception, and has remained actively involved in developing, managing, and evaluating Akamai. She serves as the principal investigator on all grants and contracts, through her position as ISEE Director at University of California, Observatories. Though Lisa spends significant time fundraising, leading, and managing, she is still deeply involved in the curriculum and programmatic aspects of the Akamai Program, and works closely with Akamai interns every summer.

Jerome is Associate Director of the Akamai Workforce Initiative. His multi-year involvement with the initiative includes leading the development of the ISEE-Akamai mentoring program, developing new tools for supporting and assessing student projects in the STEM workplace, serving as an instructor for both the Akamai PREP course and communication course. Jerome is Associate Professor Emeritus of the UCSC Department of Education.

Dr. Heather Kaluna is a Program Manager for ISEE’s Akamai Workforce Initiative and Internship Program, and an Associate Professor of Astronomy at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo. Heather is an alumni of the 2007 Akamai Internship Program, when she had her first astronomical research experience at UC Santa Cruz and also served as a mentor for the program in 2018. She is passionate about the Akamai Workforce Initiative and is honored to be able to serve in the program manager role.

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 staff member of University of California Observatories.

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.

Dave Harrington has been with Akamai for many years, serving primarily as one of the lead instructors for the PREP course. He also helps to recruit the projects from mentors before the program begins, participates on the selection committee, and leads one of the inquiry activities during the PREP course. He is now the Polarimetry Scientist at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.

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 completed her PhD in Optical Sciences in 2016 and is now a Senior Optical Engineer for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, and is an active member of Akamai’s instructional team. 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.

Cindy Giebink works on ISEE’s information management systems, including websites, databases, and online applications. She is also involved in Akamai as a mentor, and has mentored a number of interns in software projects. Cindy works part-time as a contractor for ISEE. She lives on Maui where she works for the University of Hawai‘i Institute for Astronomy where she writes software for instrument control and database development.