One can only wonder what the motivation is for Mauna Kea astronomers to subject their nighttime support staff to extremely long and fatiguing night shifts when they are easily avoidable.

Research suggests that sea level adapted humans that work at the very high altitude 13,796 feet summit of Mauna Kea may eventually develop sleep apnea and fatigue from the low oxygen environment.

I worked on Mauna Kea for over five years and saw my health severely degrade during that time. The two long term summit workers that I knew well died of disease conditions, another worker went on to commit suicide, and others were argumentative.

It always bothered me that one of my friends at the summit of Mauna Kea committed suicide. Many years later I discovered that the very high altitude summit is biologically toxic to sea level adapted humans.

When dealing with mysterious sickness, I advise people to look at what their coworkers were dying from for clues. My coworkers were were dying from suicide, gastrointestinal disease, heart disease and brain disease.

I am a survivor of workplace harassment.

High altitude workers are typically recruited from all over the world and relocated to the remote astronomical observatory area. The downside to this is that it isolates them from their existing friends and family.

I want to make it clear to the high altitude astronomy community: We are not friends.

Out of a group of eight extreme night shift workers, I was aware of four workers who appeared to be displaying symptoms of depression. That is fifty percent of the team. That number may be higher if you include those that were already on successful depression treatment and were not publicly showing the symptoms.