New University of Hawaii Astronomy Director Seeks Balance On Mauna Kea … Doug Simons is taking over the Institute for Astronomy at a critical time for the agency and for astronomy in the state.
Just three weeks into the job, the University of Hawaii’s newest astronomy director, Doug Simons, is juggling a multitude of issues.
Two telescopes on the summit of Mauna Kea are set to be demolished. The university is undertaking a renewed effort to balance competing interests on the summit of the mountain considered sacred by many Native Hawaiians. And plans are in motion that would allow the university to maintain a master lease that clears the way for observatories on the mountain past 2033.
This is all in the aftermath of protests over the Thirty Meter Telescope two years ago that stalled the project, which is now expected to cost about $2 billion. Meanwhile Simons, who took over as director of the Institute for Astronomy Sept. 1, is leading an institute that has played an integral role in numerous cosmic discoveries in recent years, such as producing the first images of a black hole and discovering the first interstellar object to pass through the solar system.
