• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)

  • / science /
    • science overview
    • cosmology and dark energy
    • redshifts and distance
    • mapping the universe
    • the DESI science mission
    • the DESI survey
    • imaging surveys
  • / instrument /
    • instrument overview
    • telescope
      • tohono o’odham
    • corrector
    • focal plane system
    • fiber system
    • spectrograph
    • instrument control system
    • data systems
    • bringing DESI to life
      • commissioning Instrument
      • protoDESI
  • / collaboration /
    • DESI team
    • DESI builders
    • collaborating institutions
    • sponsors
    • vendors
    • diversity, equity, and inclusion
    • collaboration policies
  • / press /
    • announcements
    • in the news
    • press releases
    • blog
    • tweets by desisurvey
    • acknowledgement statement
  • / galleries /
    • image gallery
    • videos
  • / for scientists /
    • instrument design
    • imaging data
    • target selection and survey validation
    • theory and simulations
    • other DESI science
    • all DESI papers
    • team login
    • request a DESI speaker
    • internal
  • / education & outreach /
    • meet a DESI member
    • blog
    • planetarium show
    • DESI high
    • interactive visualizations
    • swag shop

Ben Weaver

September 30, 2022 by

What is your position or role in the DESI project?
I am a member of the Data Management team with primary responsibility for data transfer and archiving.  This includes the transfer of raw data from Kitt Peak to NERSC, as well as transfers and backups of reduced data.

Where were you born?
Dayton, Ohio, USA.

Where do you live now?
Tucson, Arizona, USA.

What do you do as part of DESI?
The role of data archiving requires very careful thought about how data will be accessed and used by the collaboration and the general public. In order to maximize utility and minimize potential confusion, strict quality standards need to be applied to data, code and documentation.  Many of these quality standards can be enforced by automation, and I also advise other collaborators on simple ways they can ensure quality from the outset.

What is the most interesting or exciting thing about your job?
I would say on-mountain observing, but that hasn’t been possible for a very long time.  That’s unfortunate because the experience of actually working at (in?) a telescope is valuable as well as exciting. Another interesting aspect is following developments in the wider fields of supercomputing, storage, programming and other advanced information technology fields, and sharing that experience with NOIRLab and DESI.

Any advice for an aspiring scientist?
Travel. The current state of affairs is just a phase, and society will realize the importance of travel again. For now, pay for it yourself if you have to, but get out there into the whole world. You can’t taste the food over Zoom.

What do you do for fun?
Hiking, biking, reading, running, enjoying the cuisine of Tucson, a World City of Gastronomy.

If you weren’t a scientist, what would be your dream job?
Cocktail mixologist.

What excites/interests you most about DESI?
DESI is building on the success of a great team of scientists and engineers, many of whom worked for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). It is always a privilege and a pleasant experience to continue working with this team. Considering the astonishing breadth of results from SDSS, the scientific possibilities of DESI are mind-blowing.

Filed Under: meet a DESI member

Primary Sidebar

meet more members

  • Paul Martini
  • Sandy Yuan
  • Vaisakh Rajeev
  • Hector Gil Marín
  • Zack Slepian
  • Rongpu Zhou
  • Fei Qin
  • Mehdi Rezaie
  • Rossana Ruggeri
  • Ben Weaver
  • Hee-Jong Seo
  • Andreu Font-Ribera
  • Joe DeRose
  • Mariana Vargas Magaña
  • Angela Berti
  • Abby Bault
  • Adam Myers
  • Jesse Golden-Marx
  • Patrick Dunlop
  • Elise Darragh-Ford
  • Minji Oh
  • Jessica Harris
  • Boris Gaensicke
  • Victoria Fawcett
  • Kevin Fanning
  • Lehman Garrison
  • Hanyu Zhang
  • Omar A. Ruiz Macias
  • Seshadri Nadathur
  • Ignasi Pérez i Ràfols
  • Santiago Serrano Elorduy
  • Biprateep Dey
  • Claire Lamman
  • Kyle Dawson
  • Eddie Schlafly
  • Otger Ballester
  • Aaron Meisner
  • Antonella Palmese
  • Andrea Muñoz Gutiérrez
  • David Sprayberry
  • Dustin Lang
  • Tamara Davis
  • Jahmour Givans
  • John Moustakas
  • Pauline Zarrouk
  • Hu Zou
  • Christian Soto
  • Sarah E.
  • Duan Yutong
  • Michael Wilson
  • Tammie Lavoie
  • James Farr
  • Steve Kent
  • Srivatsan Sridhar
  • Jessica Aguilar
  • Alma Xochitl Gonzalez Morales
  • Charles-Antoine Claveau
  • Christopher Manser
  • Richard Joyce
  • Tami Blackwell

Footer

TEAM LOGIN

twitter   instagram   facebook

Copyright © 2018 Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument [DESI]

Copyright © 2023 · Parallax Pro DESI on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in