The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) seeks to facilitate the involvement and participation in planetary science of more students/scientists belonging to racial/ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented in the planetary science discipline. Towards this end, DPS established a partnership with the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), Earth and Planetary Systems Sciences (EPSS) section in 2021, seeking this professional organization’s expertise in representing the interests of planetary scientists and students who identify as members of communities that are critically underrepresented in this discipline. More on the structure of this partnership can be found here: leadership/nsbp_parnership
A key part of the DPS-NSBP partnership was creation of the Joint DPS-NSBP speaker recognition program. At the annual NSBP meeting, the top early career or student EPSS speaker is selected by the NSBP EPSS chairs as the DPS-NSBP Speaker awardee. This Speaker is invited by DPS to speak at the following year’s DPS meeting, with expenses covered by DPS. Furthermore, the NSBP EPSS Chairs and the DPS Committee facilitate invitation of the Speaker to an academic seminar at an HBCU, NASA center, national laboratory, or large planetary science university program or research institute, over the next year.
In this inaugural year of the program, the selected Speaker is Dr. Jasmine Bayron, a meteorite petrologist currently affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission, and the City University of New York. Dr. Bayron’s research interests lie in the petrology of primitive carbonaceous meteorites and their parent bodies. Her work focuses on the hydrothermal systems in highly altered carbonaceous chondrites whose parent bodies were responsible for the delivery of both water and organic materials to the Earth’s surface, seeking to build on our understanding of early Solar System history and to improve interpretations of carbonaceous asteroid-meteorite analog relationships. At the 2021 NSBP meeting, Dr. Bayron presented her work on Moapa Valley (CM1): The Black Box of the CM Parent Asteroid. Moapa Valley (CM1) is a rare, unheated example of the CM group that is among its most highly altered members and contains a wealth of information about the hydrothermal alteration process that occurred within the parent asteroid. Study of this meteorite contributes towards interpretation of the spectrally-similar asteroid (101955) Bennu, the target of the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission.
DPS is thrilled to invite Dr. Bayron to speak at the 2022 DPS meeting, which will be held in London, Canada. Additionally, Dr. Bayron will be speaking at the Howard University Physics Department Colloquium Series with support provided by the Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Contacts:
Dr. Diana Blaney
DPS Chair
Dr. Serina Diniega
DPS committee member
Dr. Shantanu Naidu
DPS Press Officer
More information about DPS:
More information about the DPS 2022 meeting:
More information about NSBP:
Dr. Bayron’s professional website:
https://www.drjasminebayron.com/
The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS), founded in 1968, is the largest special-interest Division of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Members of the DPS study the bodies of our own solar system, from planets and moons to comets and asteroids, and all other solar-system objects and processes. With the discovery that planets exist around other stars, the DPS has expanded its scope to include the study of extrasolar planetary systems as well.
The American Astronomical Society (AAS), established in 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community, which it achieves through publishing, meeting organization, science advocacy, education and outreach, and training and professional development.
25 February 2022