Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will deliver the deepest, widest image of the optical-infrared Universe ever seen. The ten-year LSST has been designed to revolutionize our understanding of the Universe on scales from our Solar System to galaxies to dark matter and dark energy. To enable this revolution, LSST has been developed as more than a telescope. Rubin’s LSST is a full system that will deliver science-ready data products, analysis tools, and computing resources to a world-wide community. These qualities, combined with LSST’s massively wide-spread data rights and open-source software, position it to be the most productive astronomy experiment of all time.
We are less than two years away from Rubin Observatory’s first light, and the start of LSST. The LSST Ecosystem includes (i) the federally-funded Rubin project that is building and operating the LSST, (ii) the self-governed international LSST science collaborations, and (iii) LSSTC – a non-profit coalition of member institutions invested in LSST science and community building (UIUC is a member!). My talk will focus on the role and activities of LSSTC in maximizing the scientific and societal impact of Rubin’s LSST. I will highlight ways that LSSTC programs can help you and your students prepare for science with LSST, and ways that LSSTC is designing its programs to set a new normal of inclusive participation in astrophysics.