b'2017-2018 YEAR BOOKTransitionsAdministrationEric D. Isaacs began his tenure as the 11th president of the Carnegie Institution for Science on61July 2, 2018, succeeding Matthew Scott who retired. Isaacs joins Carnegie from the University of Chicago where he had been the Department of Physics Robert A. Millikan Distinguished Service Professor and the James Franck Institute Executive Vice President for Research, Innovation, and National Laboratories.Eric D. IsaacsEmbryologyWilliam Ludington joined the department staff in June 2018. He was the Bowes research fellow in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at U.C.-Berkeley. His lab investigates complex ecological . The dynamics from microbial community interactions using the fruit flyDrosophila melanogastergoal is to understand the gut ecology and how it relates to host health, among other questions.ObservatoriesLeopoldo Infante became the director of Las Campanas Observatory on July 31, 2017, succeeding William LudingtonMark Phillips, now director emeritus. Infante had been the founder and director of the Centre for Astro-Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Catlica de Chile. He also established the Chilean Astronomical Society (SOCHIAS) and served as its president from 2009 to 2010.Nick Konidaris joined the astronomical staff at the Observatories in Pasadena. He is also Instrument Lead for the SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper (LVM). He works on a broad range of new optical instrumentation projects in astronomy and remote sensing, from experimental to large facilities. Leopoldo Infante Nick Konidaris'