Chat Hull, NAOJ Fellow, NAOJ Chile

The following is a comment from the awardee, Dr. Chat Hull.
 

It is a great honor to receive the 2020 NAOJ Young Researchers Award. The work that I have done on understanding the role of magnetic fields in the youngest forming stars began a decade ago during my graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley, and continued during my time as a Jansky Fellow of the NRAO at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. However, I can say with confidence that the support of the NAOJ— and specifically the support of NAOJ Fellowship, NAOJ Chile, and the Joint ALMA Observatory here in Santiago—has made the last three years by far the most exciting and productive period of my career.

The recent advances my research group and I have made would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of my Ph.D. student Valentin Le Gouellec, who has taken our understanding of magnetized protostars to the next level during the two years that he worked with me here in Santiago during his ESO Studentship. He has returned to CEA Saclay in France to work with his co-adviser Anaëlle Maury during the final year of his Ph.D. and will be off on more great adventures afterward. I am extremely thankful for the support of the NAOJ during Valentin’s time in Chile—in particular for the support of the NAOJ Chile and Mitaka administration staff, who worked hard to make sure that Valentin and I could efficiently and effectively use my grants for our KAKENHI research over the last few years. The fact that NAOJ staff in Chile, even on fixed-term positions, can apply and receive funding through the JSPS grant-in-aid program (KAKENHI) is an unparalleled benefit of working for the NAOJ, and was critical for supporting the work that led to this award.

In closing, I would like to thank a huge number of people who have supported me in the last few years. First and most importantly: thanks to my wife Lisa and my son Max for joining me on the wild ride of life in Chile. Next, to my diverse and fascinating network of colleagues in East Asia, North America, Europe, and specifically at ALMA, NRAO/AUI, ESO, and the NAOJ in Chile who embody the global spirit of astronomy and who make every day a trilingual adventure. And finally, to all of the NAOJ staff who have worked incredibly hard to enable my and my group’s success: Fukui-san, Kikuchi-san, and the entire admin team in Mitaka; Álvaro, Fukagawa-san, Saito-san, and all of my colleagues and collaborators at the NAOJ ALMA project and the Division of Science; Goto-san, Suzuki-san, Yamamoto-san, Shirato-san, and countless others in the Research Support Section, General Affairs Division, Finance Division, and Support Desk; and my present and former colleagues at NAOJ Chile including Ricardo, Gabriela, Lorena, Ichiyama-san, Okumura-san, Sakamoto-san, Asayama-san, Tsukano-san, Yamafuji-san, Isozaki-san, and Minamidani-san.

A very happy spring to everyone, and, as we say in English, “onward and upward” to good health and more great discoveries in 2021!