Biography

Chun Ly is the Research Data Developer at the Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory and an Affiliate Assistant Astronomer at Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona (UofA). He is responsible for developing an ORCiD integration for the management of ORCiD profiles for PPPL researchers and for automating the dissemination of open-access publications at a top-tier Department of Energy laboratory.

In his previous role at the UofA, he was the Research Data Systems Integration Specialist where he built and maintained the UofA research data repository service (ReDATA) that enables open and reproducible science at the UofA.

He enjoys developing open-source software with Python and spends his time thinking about “DevOps” and how to implement it in reproducible research.

Chun earned his Bachelor's degrees in Astronomy and Physics from the UofA, and received his Master's and Ph.D. from the University of California−Los Angeles. After completing his Ph.D., Chun held a Giacconi Postdoctoral Fellowship position at the Space Telescope Science Institute (Baltimore, MD) and a NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD). He was a Queue Observer for the MMT Observatory (Mt. Hopkins, AZ) between 2016 and 2019.

Interests

  • Open source software
  • Automation with software and infrastructure
  • Galaxy formation and evolution
  • Astronomical data processing
  • Open and reproducible science
  • Enabling digital literacy with student mentoring, Software Carpentry, and Research Bazaar Arizona

Education

  • Ph.D. in Astronomy, 2010

    University of California, Los Angeles

  • M.S. in Astronomy, 2006

    University of California, Los Angeles

  • B.S. in Astronomy and Physics, 2004

    University of Arizona

Skills

python

git

gh

Digital Ocean

docker

Overleaf

Figshare

ADS

arXiv

Recent Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Research Data Developer

Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory

Aug 2021 – Present Tucson, Arizona; Princeton, New Jersey

I am leading the technical deployment of the UofA institutional data repository called ReDATA.

My roles include:

  • Building and developing an ORCiD integration for the management of PPPL researchers’ ORCiD profiles using the ORCiD API
  • Developing solutions to automate the dissemination of open-access research to the Department of Energy's public access services
  • Develop tools to track PPPL researchers’ scholarly impact through metadata harvesting and data visualization
 
 
 
 
 

Research Data Systems Integration Specialist

University of Arizona Libraries

Sep 2019 – Jul 2021 Tucson, Arizona

I am leading the technical deployment of the UofA institutional data repository called ReDATA.

My roles include:

  • DevOps. Developing front- and/or back-end software to enable and automate identity and access management, data curation, and data preservation, and deploying them on cloud infrastructure
  • Engagement. Connecting with major campus stakeholders to identify and develop workflows for integrating ReDATA with existing library, campus computing, and research administration systems, such as, single-sign on (SSO) with the University's enterprise-level Shibboleth system, ORCiD, and UofA HPC infrastructure
  • Outreach. Engaging researchers across campus to use the data repository for open and reproducible science
  • Governance. Participate in discussions regarding data repository policies.
 
 
 
 
 

Professional Observer

MMT Observatory

Sep 2016 – Sep 2019 Tucson, Arizona
Acquired astronomical data on a 6.5-meter optical and infrared telescope. I have over 300 nights experience and provided technical oversight to science instrument PIs, research scientists, software engineers, and engineers. In addition, I develop software to enable data analysis automation
 
 
 
 
 

Affiliate Assistant Astronomer

Steward Observatory

Jul 2016 – Present Tucson, Arizona
 
 
 
 
 

NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Oct 2013 – Sep 2016 Greenbelt, Maryland
 
 
 
 
 

Giacconi Postdoctoral Fellow

Space Telescope Science Institute

Oct 2013 – Sep 2010 Baltimore, Maryland

Projects

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UofA Research Data Repository

An institutional data repository to enable open and reproducible science at the UofA

Tech Talks

Tutorials, talks, and blog posts on coding, research tools, and building software

NewH$\alpha$ Survey

Extending narrowband surveys toward higher redshifts with wide-field imaging in the near-infrared

Gemini GNIRS Longslit Reduction

A Python/PyRAF data reduction pipeline for longslit near-infared spectra from Gemini/GNIRS instrument

Subaru Deep Field (SDF)

A deep extragalactic survey of star-forming galaxies with the 8.4-m Subaru Telescope

Automation of MMT/MMIRS data reduction

A Python tool to enable automation of spectral data reduction

DEEP2 Survey

Using public data to understand chemical enrichment in galaxies

Metal Abundances across Cosmic Time

Spectroscopic survey of emission-line galaxies to understand galaxy evolution

Recent Publications

Full publication list in PDF format available here.
Quickly discover relevant content by filtering publications.

Recent & Upcoming Talks

Recent Posts

Building a streamlit app to serve UArizona salary data and deploying it on Heroku

Motivation The Daily Wildcat of the University of Arizona (UArizona) has routinely provided the salary of UArizona employees for nearly …

Preserving your voting records on Vox Charta with Python

It's been a few months since I have done a tech/hacking post. I figured it might be worthwhile to do a quick one on the recent web …

When the pandemic hit, I used my data analysis and Google Sheet skills to inform

Without a doubt, COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of life, especially higher education. Earlier this year, the University of Arizona …

Syncing an Overleaf project with your GitHub account

Overleaf is an environment for researchers to collaboratively write their manuscripts and papers with $\LaTeX$. It is an amazing tool, …

Certifications

Certificate in Archival Data Management Systems

See certificate

Software Carpentry Instructor

See certificate

Contact

  • (520) 621-5975
  • 1510 E University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85719
  • Fifth floor of Main Library on Side A, Room A501