Subject: [DPS Members] DPS Mailing #10-11: Professional Development Ctte, Election Results... Issue 10-11, August 11th 2010 +-----------------------------CONTENTS--------------------------------+ 1) Note from the Chair: Professional Development Subcommittee 2) DPS Election Results 3) 2010 DPS Meeting: Program Available, Deadlines 4) DPS Treasurer Candidates Wanted 5) DPS Webmaster Wanted 6) DPS E/PO Subcommittee Volunteers Wanted 7) Decadal Survey Update 8) SOFIA Tour and Workshop at the 2010 DPS Meeting 9) JGR Planets Editor Wanted 10)Upcoming Meetings +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1 NOTE FROM THE CHAIR: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE The DPS committee has formed a new subcommittee for Professional Development. The goals of the Professional Development Subcommittee are to: 1) Determine the professional development needs unique to our community. 2) Provide educational experience for the membership. 3) Encourage networking within the community. 4) Build and maintain an information resource center. 5) Strive for an inclusive community. We are happy to announce that Rachel Mastrapa will lead this new subcommittee. The tenure and rules will be similar to the Federal Relations Subcommittee. More information about the charter and plans for this new subcommittee can be found at http://dps.aas.org/leadership/development The first activity organized by this subcommittee will be the early career scientist workshop planned for Sunday, October 2 preceding the DPS meeting in Pasadena: see http://dps.aas.org/development/. This workshop is open to all graduate students and recent post-graduates interested in learning more about advancing their career in planetary science. The full day workshop will include a networking event, a panel on career pathways, and a tutorial on proposal writing. Lunch and refreshments will be provided to participants. Pre-registration is required for this event due to space limitations. Please contact Rachel Mastrapa ([email protected]) to pre-register. If openings are still available, there will be a sign-up list at the main DPS meeting registration area, as well. This event is sponsored by NASA and the DPS Committee. Candy Hansen, DPS Chair 2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2---------2 DPS ELECTION RESULTS The winners of the 2010 DPS election are as follows: Vice Chair: Daniel Britt Committee: Elizabeth (Zibi) Turtle, Dale Cruikshank They will take office at the DPS business meeting at the upcoming DPS meeting in Pasadena. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who ran for the DPS offices. 3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3---------3 2010 DPS MEETING: PROGRAM AVAILABLE, DEADLINES The annual DPS meeting will be held October 3rd-8th in Pasadena, CA. See http://dps.aas.org/meetings/2010/ for details. The meeting program is now online: see http://dps.aas.org/meetings/2010/sciprog.shtml Late abstracts can still be submitted: the deadline is September 1st. See http://members.aas.org/abstracts/ The regular registration deadine is September 1st. See http://dps.aas.org/meetings/2010/reg.shtml 4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4---------4 DPS TREASURER CANDIDATES WANTED The DPS will need a new Treasurer to begin a 3 year term at the 2011 Nantes meeting. For more information about the duties of the Treasurer or to express an interest in being considered, please contact the current Treasurer, Diana Blaney ([email protected]) 5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5---------5 DPS WEBMASTER WANTED Can you help maintain the DPS Web pages? The DPS is seeking a new Webmaster to look after the content of the DPS Web pages. In the past, this position has required a more detailed understanding of Web technologies. However, the DPS is moving to a content management system (Drupal) and the AAS IT staff will be doing more of the technical work. The DPS Webmaster will mostly need to work within the system managing the pages via the content management portal. This will allow the DPS Webmaster to concentrate more on the content of the pages, and not so much on the machinery that provides them. If you have questions about being the next DPS Webmaster, send an e-mail to the current Webmaster, Ross Beyer, at [email protected]. If interested please email [email protected]. 6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6---------6 DPS E/PO SUBCOMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS WANTED The DPS Education & Public Outreach Subcommittee is seeking activist volunteer members interested in leading projects of their choosing. E/PO is defined broadly, and includes both service by and to DPS members. Identified projects in search of volunteers include (1) Teaching resources for undergraduate educators; (2) Information clearing house for graduate education in planetary science; (3) resources for scientists doing school visits or public talks; (4) web page developer and curator; (5) information clearing house on E/PO funding sources; (6) follow-up events to the International Year of Astronomy, including the 2010-2012 "Year of the Solar System"; (7) coordination & collaboration with other astronomical organizations & clubs; (8) planetary outreach speaker's bureau. If any of these sound like a good idea to you, please consider joining us to head up the effort. If you've identified a project you consider higher priority, please suggest it! Please reply to [email protected], the DPS E/PO officer. Interested parties will meet informally at the Pasadena DPS meeting. 7---------7---------7---------7---------7---------7---------7---------7 DECADAL SURVEY UPDATE Dear Colleague: This is the sixth newsletter to the community regarding SolarSystem2012, the planetary science decadal survey. The key points in this newsletter are these: 1. The five decadal survey panels have completed their integration of the inputs from the community, and have provided their recommendations to the steering committee. 2. Cost and technical evaluations for the highest priority missions recommended by the panels are nearing completion. 3. Final prioritization of mission candidates and other activities by the steering committee is underway, and will be completed within the next few weeks. 4. A report is being drafted, and we expect it to begin a comprehensive peer review process beginning in late September. 5. We hope to have a final report ready to present to the community by next spring. 6. More information is available on the SolarSystem2012 web site: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CurrentProjects/ssb_052412 Late spring and early summer were an exceptionally busy time for the five panels, as they finished working through all of the inputs from the community, integrating them for inclusion in the final decadal survey report. The statistics on the community inputs were impressive, with 199 white papers written by 1691 unique authors and co-authors. The panels also worked closely over this period with the Applied Physics Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to perform detailed studies of a large number of candidate missions that arose from the community inputs. After receiving the mission studies from the panels, Aerospace Corporation, under contract to the NRC, has performed a number of detailed cost and technical evaluations of the candidate missions. Most of these evaluations are now done, and the final few will be completed within the next two weeks. Once the steering committee has received all of the scientific inputs from the panels and all of the technical and cost evaluations from Aerospace, the final prioritization of mission candidates will take place. The challenge, of course, is finding the best solar system exploration program that fits the projected budget. Much of the prioritization has already been done by the panels themselves, so the number of decisions that the steering group will have to make is small. As always, our decisions will be driven by our assessment of the community's views on the science value and cost effectiveness of all the missions and other activities under consideration. The final prioritization will be completed within the next few weeks. A report summarizing the current state of knowledge in planetary science, the key outstanding science questions, and the affordable mission candidates and other science activities that best address those questions is being drafted. Most of the report is now written, and we expect to have a final draft done within the next two months. Once that draft has been submitted to the NRC, it will undergo a long and rigorous peer review process, per NRC standards. Many of you in the community will be asked to review it; if you do get asked to provide a review, a timely response will be greatly appreciated! As soon as the report has been through the review and revision process, it will be released publicly. We expect that the release date will be sometime in the early spring of 2011. After the report has been released, we will also be able to provide briefings about it to the community at major science conferences… so stay tuned for those. I’d again like to thank everyone in the community for your many inputs to this process. The set of activities that we have studied is breathtaking in its scope, and finding the subset that best addresses your highest priorities while fitting into a limited budget is turning out to be both challenging and rewarding. I’m excited about the recommended plan that is emerging, and I think you will be too. As always, more details, including archived webcasts of meetings, agendas for past and future meetings, and materials presented to the Steering Group and panels, are available at the SolarSystem2012 web site: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CurrentProjects/ssb_052412 Best wishes, Steve Squyres SolarSystem2012 Chair 8---------8---------8---------8---------8---------8---------8---------8 SOFIA TOUR AND WORKSHOP AT THE 2010 DPS MEETING A guided tour of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft and the NASA Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility (DAOF) in Palmdale will be offered to DPS attendees in Pasadena on Sunday October 3. The tour bus will leave Pasadena at 12:30 pm and return at 5:30 pm. Advance registration is required. For more details, and to register for the tour, see http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/workshops/DPS2010.html There wil also be a SOFIA Workshop during the meeting, Monday October 4, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Pasadena Convention Center, Room 208. The workship is open to all DPS attendees. The status of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), including the aircraft, telescope, and science instruments, will be presented. Opportunities to observe with SOFIA will be explained in detail. Community input is solicited with an aim toward making SOFIA as useful as possible for planetary science. If you have any questions, please contact the workshop organizer, Bill Reach, [email protected] For general information about SOFIA, see http://www.sofia.usra.edu/ 9---------9---------9---------9---------9---------9---------9---------9 JGR-PLANETS EDITOR WANTED AGU is looking for a dynamic, well-organized scientist with high editorial standards and strong leadership skills to serve as the Editor for the Planets section of JGR. The 4-year editorial term begins 1 January 2011 and is preceded by a transition period in Fall 2010. Applicants should be respected leaders in the community, independent-minded, and evenhanded. As Editor you should be committed to further strengthen JGR-Planets as the leading journal in planetary sciences and be proactive in attracting innovative contributions in traditional disciplines and in emerging areas. The Union is interested in attracting papers in developing areas and ensuring that readers of JGR-Planets receive the best and most timely information possible. As Editor you will * have full authority to accept or reject submitted papers * ensure fair and timely review * seek out stimulating papers for inclusion in the journal. A search committee appointed by the AGU President evaluates prospective candidates and conducts personal interviews with a small number of highly qualified individuals. The President makes the final selection and appointment. All AGU Editors serve at the pleasure of the President. If you would like to serve your community as Editor of JGR-Planets, send your curriculum vita with a letter of interest via email to [email protected]. If you would like to nominate a highly qualified colleague, send a letter of recommendation to the same email address. Please make sure that you specify JGR-Planets in the subject line of the email. 10--------10--------10--------10--------10--------10--------10-------10 UPCOMING MEETINGS 1) AGU Fall Meeting, San Franciso, December 13-17 2010 http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm10/ Abstracts are due on September 2nd 2010 Planetary sessions include the following: P01: Planetary Sciences General Contributions P02: Mineralogical Studies of Impact Craters: Exhumed Crust, Hydrothermal Processes, and Post-Impact Weathering P03: Evolution of Planetary Atmospheres P04: Planetary Rings: Theory and Observation P05: Eyes on Enceladus P06: Minds on Mimas P07: Changes in the Lunar Paradigm: Implications of Hydrous Magmatism on Lunar Evolution P08: Characterizing Soils and Their Development on Mars, the Moon, and Other Extraterrestrial Bodies P09: The Atmosphere of Mars: New Findings from Modeling and Observations P10: Planetary Analogs: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly P11: Titan's Methane Cycle and its Effect on the Surface P12: Planetary Radar Investigations: Observations, Theory, Lab Measurements, Field Analogues, and Future Opportunities P13: Exploring Venus P14: Rosetta Flybys of Asteroids 2867 Steins and 21 Lutetia P15: The Potential for Water-Organics Interactions on Titan P16: Science From Multi-Spacecraft Observations: The Moon, Mars, and Jupiter P17: Icy Ocean Worlds P18: Interiors of Terrestrial Planets and Super-Earth Exoplanets P19: It's No Moonshine: The Amazing Origins and Evolutions of Outer Planet Satellites P20: Explosive Volcanism in the Solar System P21: South Pole-Aitken Basin: New Insights P22: On the Nature, Origin, and Evolution of Water on Airless Bodies P23; The Shape of Things to Come: Using Topography to Investigate the Evolution of Outer Solar System Satellites P24: Shoemaker Lecture P25: Whipple Lecture +---------------------------------------------------------------------+