MARTIN STILL - DIRECTOR - phone# (650) 604-2018
Martin received his BSc in Mathematics and Astronomy in 1991 from the University of Leicester, England, followed by an MSc (1992) and PhD (1995) in Astronomy from the University of Sussex. After receiving his doctorate, he worked for three years as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Martin joined the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in 1999 under a contract agreement with the Universities Space Research Association within the Guest Observer Facility for the XMM-Newton space observatory. After 2002, Martin's primary responsibilities at GSFC were science support for the Swift Gamma ray burst mission. In 2005 he joined the astronomy support team for the 10m Southern African Large Telescope, followed in 2007 with appointment as the Post-Launch Operations Manager for Swift and XMM-Newton at the University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory. He began his role as Director of the Kepler Guest Observer Office at NASA Ames in August 2009. His scientific interests lie in the study of accretion, irradiation and atmospheres in compact stellar binaries, black hole physics, gamma-ray bursts and spectral diagnostics of hot plasmas.

MICHAEL FANELLI - DEPUTY DIRECTOR - phone# (650) 604-0398
Mike received undergraduate degrees in physics and astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a masters degree and PhD in astronomy from the University of Virginia. He then taught astronomy for two years at Hampden-Sydney College in central Virginia. In 1992 Mike joined the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow (1992-1994), and continuing as a staff scientist until 1998. UIT was a Shuttle-borne telescope, which conducted a high-resolution, wide-field UV survey, as part of the three-telescope Astro payload. Mike participated in science planning and operations for the Astro-2 flight in March, 1995. Subsequently, he served as ground observer lead for UIT, obtaining optical imagery for UIT targets at Palomar, Las Campanas, Kitt Peak, and McDonald Observatories. In 1998 Mike moved to Texas, where he served on the faculty of the University of North Texas, and Texas Christian University. He taught physics and astronomy courses, and mentored a number of undergraduate and graduate students. While at North Texas, Mike developed an NSF-funded robotic observatory, for use in survey astronomy laboratory curricula. Mike's interests include galaxy evolution, the structure and star formation histories of starburst and isolated galaxies, the effects of environment on the physical properties of galaxies, UV stellar spectral diagnostics, astronomy pedagogy, and the use of small telescopes for instruction and research.