Issue 15-49, November 10, 2015
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- FINAL MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
- RENEW YOUR AAS/DPS MEMBERSHIP TODAY
- SBAG 14 MEETING REGISTRATION NOW AVAILABLE
- JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES
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FINAL MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
The DPS and Diversity
The American Astronomical Society has a strong commitment to
diversity, and the DPS has followed its lead. The Society’s first AAS
diversity committee was established 40 years ago, and its mission
statement “supports and promotes increased participation of historically
underrepresented groups in astronomy.” The AAS has a very strong
anti-harassment policy, which DPS supports. AAS President Meg Urry
made a decisive statement – endorsed by the DPS – after the sexual
harassment case at Berkeley involving Geoff Marcy.
Some recent events have underscored the Society’s commitment. The
controversy involving the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope
on Mauna Kea spawned a derogatory comment about Native Hawaiians
by a member of the astronomical community. Meg Urry issued a
statement condemning these comments
(http://aas.org/posts/news/2015/05/response-community-concerns-about-our-professional-climate).
The Society convened its Inclusive Astronomy 2015 Conference June
17-19 in Nashville. The AAS has established a Working Group on
LGBTIQ Equality, and members of the Society maintain an “outlist”
of openly Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer
Members of the Astronomical Community
(http://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~blaes/lgbtastro/).
The DPS has established its own fund in memory of Susan Niebur,
who worked tirelessly for the benefit of women in DPS. The fund
supports the annual Women in Planetary Sciences Lunches and
dependent care grants to enable meeting attendance. We also have a
Professional Development Committee which has established a mentoring
program.
DPS should continue and augment its commitment to diversity. Our
Scientific Organizing Committees have made a point of exhibiting
inclusiveness in DPS conference invited speakers. We have reached
gender parity in our leadership, and we are striving to increase international
representation in our leadership. Planetary sciences still remains
underrepresented from members of the Black, Latin, and Native
communities, as does the entire scientific community.
A diverse community benefits everyone. It opens us to a range of opinions
and perspectives on matters both technical and societal, and it strengthens
our ranks with talented scientists from groups that have been historically
underrepresented.
Bonnie Buratti
DPS Chair
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RENEW YOUR AAS/DPS MEMBERSHIP TODAY
With no dues increase and a “stellar” lineup of benefits, there isn’t a better
time than now to renew your commitment to the AAS/DPS.
AAS emailed members in early September announcing the start of membership
renewal season, and many took notice. Online renewals are arriving at a steady
pace. If you have already paid your dues, thanks for your continued support.
To help reduce costs and the Society’s carbon footprint, we encourage you to
renew online today for fast, easy self-service. Simply log in to pay your dues,
to confirm or update your journal subscriptions and Division memberships,
and to lock in savings for 2016 by renewing for two years at the current rate.
(Note: That last option isn’t available to junior members, who instead get two
years for the price of one — currently $80 —when first joining the Society,
then renew annually thereafter.)
Renew before 31 December to maintain your benefits and receive additional
savings: the AAS will extend a one-time 15% discount off your portion of the
author charges for one paper published in the Astronomical Journal, the
Astrophysical Journal, ApJ Letters, or ApJ Supplement. Eligible members
can double their savings: if you renew by 31 December for two years, you will
receive the 15% author discount on one paper each in 2016 and 2017.
The Society has much planned for 2016 — including the 227th meeting of the
AAS in Kissimmee in January — so you won’t want to miss out on the latest
science, member communications, and career and networking opportunities.
Supporting the AAS is supporting your discipline. Renew today!
If you have any questions about your dues or benefits, or need assistance
when logging in, please contact the membership team by email at
[email protected]or by phone at 202-328-2010. Thank you!
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SBAG 14 MEETING REGISTRATION NOW AVAILABLE
Registration and logistical information is now available for the SBAG 14
meeting, which will be held January 27-29, 2016 in Monrovia, CA.
Registration is free but important for planning and for evaluating
community interest in SBAG meetings.
Also, thank you to the New Horizons team for providing a newly updated
slide set, so that we can all easily share the excitement of planetary science
missions with the public whenever we have the opportunity:
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/new_horizons/
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JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES
A) POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN EXOPLANETARY
SCIENCE AT UC SANTA CRUZ
The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of
California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) invites applications for the position of
Morrison Postdoctoral Fellow in Astronomy. For this year’s Morrison
Fellowship we are specifically targeting exoplanetary science.
UCSC is the home of the University of California Observatories (UCO),
with facilities including the Lick and Keck Observatories and Thirty
Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory. It is also one of the
world’s leading centers for research in computational astrophysics.
The 3000-core Hyades cluster is the on-campus centerpiece of UCSC
computational astrophysics. Close collaborations exist between
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Physics, Earth & Planetary Sciences, and
Applied Mathematics & Statistics.
Applicants should be able to contribute to the Department of Astronomy
and Astrophysics in exoplanetary science investigations that are
either observational or theoretical in nature.
Full job ad and additional information:
http://apo.ucsc.edu/academic_employment/jobs/PS-ASTRO-MF.pdf
Review of applications will begin on December 07, 2015.
Inquiries:
Please contact Professor Jonathan Fortney
at [email protected]
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Send submissions to:
Anne Verbiscer, DPS Secretary ([email protected])
To unsubscribe visit http://aas.org/unsubscribe or email [email protected].
To change your address email [email protected]
—
Anne J. Verbiscer
Research Associate Professor
Department of Astronomy
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4325