Subject: [DPS Members] DPS Mailing #10-06: Election slate, Moon Zoo... Issue 10-06, May 13th 2010 +-----------------------------CONTENTS--------------------------------+ 1) DPS Elections 2010: Candidate Slate 2) DPS Meeting 2010: Note the Dates 3) "Moon Zoo" Citizen Science Project 4) Planetary Exploration Newsletter 5) Job Announcements 6) Upcoming Meetings +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1 DPS ELECTIONS 2010: CANDIDATE SLATE The DPS Nominating Committee has identified the following candidates for the 2010 DPS elections for Vice-Chair and Committee: Vice-Chair (1 to be elected): Dan Britt, University of Central Florida Torrence Johnson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Committee (2 to be elected): Dale Cruikshank, NASA Ames Research Center Andrew Rivkin, Applied Physics Laboratory Andrew Steffl, Southwest Research Institute Elizabeth Turtle, Applied Physics Laboratory Thanks to these candidates for being willing to serve, and to the Nominating Committee for their work. Additional candidates, supported by a petition of at least 20 DPS members, may be nominated within the next 30 days. Please send any nominations to the DPS Secretary, John Spencer, spencer@boulder.swri.edu, by June 15th 2010. 2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2 DPS MEETING 2010: NOTE THE DATES Please note that the dates for the 2010 DPS Meeting in Pasadena are October 3rd-8th. These have been the planned dates for some time, but if your calendar still shows the dates as October 17th-22nd, as originally planned when the meeting was to be held in Madison, Wisconsin, it's time to update your calendar. 3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3 "MOON ZOO" CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT Moon Zoo, just launched at http://www.moonzoo.org, is a citizen science project which invites volunteers from around the world to record and measure craters in images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera archived through the Planetary Data System. The interface also invites visitors to the website to look for interesting surface features and to record boulder-surrounded craters in an effort to better understand the nature of the lunar regolith. The site has been developed by the Citizen Science Alliance, the team behind the highly successful Galaxy Zoo, and in collaboration with the NASA Lunar Science Institute and Adler Planetarium. We invite you to try out the website and provide feedback on the project either by the Moon Zoo Forum (http://forum.moonzoo.org/) or by contacting one of the team members (http://www.moonzoo.org/team). If you are interested in analysing scientific data collected by the project to address your own lunar science research please do also get in touch with the team. Thank you for you help and we hope that you enjoy exploring the lunar surface with Moon Zoo! Please do spread the word. 4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4 PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER You are invited to subscribe to and participate in the Planetary Exploration Newsletter (PEN). PEN is a free weekly electronic newsletter, providing a means by which planetary scientists around the world can communicate with each other. PEN contains meeting announcements, job announcements, and your submissions of news regarding or impacting solar system exploration, upcoming mission events, awards, policy issues, as well as editorials and commentary. The PEN Meeting Calendar (http://planetarynews.org/meetings.html) strives to be the most exhaustive listing of planetary-related meetings, conferences and workshops around the world. Send the title, dates, location and URL to pen_editor at psi.edu. Go to http://planetarynews.org to subscribe to future mailings, read current and past mailings, and find guidelines for submitting content. There is no charge. Mark Sykes, Melissa Lane, Susan Benecchi (Planetary Science Institute) 5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5 JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS 1) Interdisciplinary (Physical Scientist, Geophysicist, Cartographer, Geodesist or Mathematician), USGS Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, Arizona Contact: Annie Howington-Kraus, ahowington@usgs.gov, 928-556-7244 6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6 UPCOMING MEETINGS 1) In the Footsteps of Galileo: A Hands-on Workshop on Astronomy, Jul. 31 - Aug. 1, 2010, University of Colorado, Boulder http://www.astrosociety.org/events/2010mtg/gttp.html One unit of Continuing Education Credit available. In this hands-on workshop for everyone teaching astronomy or space/earth science in grades 3 - 12, participants will explore Galileo's life, work, and legacy, and learn a wide range of hands-on, classroom-ready activities. They will each receive a Galileoscope, a new small telescope prepared for last year's Galileo anniversary celebrations, plus resource guides, videos, and background information on astronomy and astronomy teaching. There will be special emphasis on understanding the Moon and its recent exploration, and a segment on preserving the dark night sky against the light pollution. Participants will break up into elementary and secondary groups for parts of the workshop to make sure all teachers receive age-appropriate materials for their students. No background in astronomy will be assumed. Cost is $70. 2) Cosmos in the Classroom: Symposium on Teaching Astronomy for Non-science Majors, Boulder, Colorado, August 1-4 2010. See: http://www.astrosociety.org/2010meeting The discounted registration deadline is May 15th. Rates will go up closer to the meeting dates. The late abstract deadline is May 28th. Activities include: * Hands-on workshops on how to use clickers, how to engage students outside the traditional lecture format, how to teach astrobiology, how best to convey curved space, and what to say to your students about "Doomsday 2012" * Nobel Prize Winner Susan Solomon updating us on global warming * Special interest group meetings about on-line courses and tools, student learning outcomes, teaching climate change, what should be covered in Astro 101, and astronomy education research. * Award-winning science journalist Marcia Bartusiak discussing some of the hidden stories behind Hubble's announcement of the expansion of the universe. * Poster papers on a course on cultural astronomy, on the new NASA Working Group on Higher Education, on the broad national study assessing the teaching and learning of astronomy, on a new solar system concept inventory and lecture-tutorials, on questions to ask on the first day of class, and on the use of virtual worlds. A very limited number of $750 scholarships are still available for qualifying instructors. Discount hotel rooms and campus residence halls have been arranged. Andrew Fraknoi, Foothill College, fraknoiandrew@fhda.edu David Bruning, University of Wisconsin Program Committee Co-chairs 3) European Planetary Science Congress 2010, 19 – 24 September 2010, Rome, Italy http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2010/ The abstract deadline has been recently extended to May 26th 2010 4) Venus, Our Closest Earth-like Planet: From Surface to Thermosphere - How does it Work? August 30th-September 2nd 2010, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. http://venus.wisc.edu/workshop/index.html Important Dates: 1. A Registration and Indication of Interest form should be filled out by MAY 15, 2010: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/venus/iofi 2. Extended Abstracts are due before 15 July 2010 3. Accommodation at Hilton Madison Monona Terrace at special rates can be made until 30 July 2010. The Workshop will be followed by NASA/VEXAG Meeting starting on September 2. NASA's newly formed Technology Committee will also meet in Madison on 31 August and 1 September, 2010. Sushil Atreya, Chair Sanjay Limaye, Co-Chair Venus International Workshop Program Committee +---------------------------------------------------------------------+