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Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific: 2016 Reviewer Awards

Reviewer of the Year: Dr Dmitry Monin, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Canada

An instrumentation astronomer, Dr Dmitry Monin finds Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific informative and pertinent. The journal publishes high quality papers on subjects ranging from pure astronomy to instrumentation, the latter being of particular interest to Dr Monin. He is full of praise for the journal’s Editorial Board, which is doing an ‘incredible job’, he says.

Dr Monin is modest about the ‘small contribution’ he makes to the journal, stating that he finds it rewarding to be working alongside highly knowledgeable referees. He does not consider himself to be an experienced reviewer and is delighted to have been awarded the 2016 Reviewer of the Year accolade.

A self-proclaimed perfectionist, Dr Monin enjoys applying his critiquing skills to the task of reviewing and is pleased to be able to use his tendency towards perfectionism as a force for good. He also likes uncovering novel, original research that offers interesting facts and findings. One article that springs to his mind is The BRITE Constellation Nanosatellite Mission: Testing, Commissioning, and Operations. The paper claims to serve as a template for effectively planning, building and operating future low-cost, niche-driven, space astronomy missions.

Viewing the current peer review process as straightforward and efficient, Dr Monin’s advice to those who are reviewing for the first time is to pay attention to detail. Even the best scientists make mistakes, he says, and it is up to reviewers to spot them.

Outstanding Reviewers:

  • Dr William Bridgman, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, United States
  • Dr Xavier Dumusque, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, United States
  • Professor Ken Kellermann, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, United States
  • Dr Mitsuru Kokubo, University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Dr Geza Kovacs, Konkoly Observatory, Hungary
  • Dr Ernst Paunzen, Masarykova univerzita Prirodovedecka Fakulta, Czech Republic
  • Dr Taha Sochi, University College London, UK
  • Andrew Vanderburg, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, United States
  • Dr Héctor Vázquez Ramió, Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón, Spain