Issue 19-07, February 21, 2019

 

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1. CALL FOR DPS 2019 PRIZE NOMINATIONS
2. CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 9th “PAOLO FARINELLA” PRIZE 2019
3. EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR 2019 PLANETARY DEFENSE CONFERENCE
4. UPCOMING PROPOSAL WRITING WORKSHOPS
5. SUMMER SCHOOL ON SOFTWARE SYSTEMS FOR ASTRONOMY
6. JGR PLANETS: SCIENCE ENABLED BY THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER CORNERSTONE MISSION
7. LPSC WORKSHOP: INTRODUCTION TO PLANETARY IMAGE ANALYSIS WITH ARCGIS
8. 4TH VIRTUAL MEPAG MEETING (VM4)
9. JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES

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CALL FOR DPS 2019 PRIZE NOMINATIONS

 

Deadline: April 1, 2019

 

Every year the DPS recognizes exceptional achievement in our field.

Please consider nominating a respected colleague for one of the annual

DPS prizes. The DPS sponsors five prizes:

 

The Gerard P. Kuiper Prize honors outstanding contributions to the field

 of planetary science.

 

The Harold C. Urey Prize recognizes outstanding achievement in planetary

research by a young scientist.

 

The Harold Masursky Award acknowledges outstanding service to planetary

science and exploration.

 

The Carl Sagan Medal recognizes and honors outstanding communication

by an active planetary scientist to the general public.

 

The Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award recognizes and

stimulates distinguished popular writing on planetary sciences.

 

DPS members and the planetary science community-at-large are encouraged to

submit nominations for DPS prizes.

 

A complete nomination submitted by the deadline will be considered by the

DPS Prize subcommittee for 3 years (i.e. for this year’s award, next year’s award,

and the year after that), or for the duration of a candidate’s eligibility, whichever

is less. Please fill out the nomination form, and it will be submitted to the prize

subcommittee. The Eberhart Award has different rules and procedures than the

other DPS Prizes, please see its page for more information.

 

Scroll to the bottom of prizes for rules and procedures.

Questions: [email protected]

 

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 9TH “PAOLO FARINELLA” PRIZE 2019

 

To honor the memory and the outstanding figure of Paolo Farinella (1953-2000),

an extraordinary scientist and person, a prize has been established in recognition

of significant contributions in one of the fields of interest of Paolo, which spanned

from planetary sciences to space geodesy, fundamental physics, science

popularization, security in space, weapons control and disarmament.

 

The prize has been proposed during the “International Workshop on Paolo Farinella,

the scientist and the man”, held in Pisa in 2010, and the 2019 edition is supported by

the “Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur” in France.

 

Previous recipients of the “Paolo Farinella Prize” were:

• 2011: William F. Bottke, for his contribution to the field of “Physics and dynamics of small solar system bodies”
• 2012: John Chambers, for his contribution to the field of “Formation and early evolution of the solar system “
• 2013: Patrick Michel, for his contribution to the field of ” Collisional processes in the Solar System”
• 2014: David Vokrouhlicky, for his contribution to the field of “Non gravitational forces in the Solar System”
• 2015: Nicolas Biver, for his contribution to the field of “Dynamics and physics of comets”
• 2016: Kleomenis Tsiganis, for his contribution to the field of “Applications of celestial mechanics to the natural bodies of our solar system”.
• 2017: Simone Marchi, for his contribution to the field of “Physics and dynamics of the inner planets of the solar system and their satellites”
• 2018: Francis Nimmo, for his contribution to the field of “Giant planets and satellite systems”.

 

The ninth Paolo Farinella Prize will be awarded to a young scientist with outstanding contributions in the field of planetary science concerning “The Trans-Neptunian Population”. The award ceremony will be hosted by the joint European Planetary Science

Congress (EPSC) – Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting in Geneva,

Switzerland (15th to 20st of September 2019).

 

For the 9th “Paolo Farinella” Prize the terms and rules are as follows:

 

1. A competition is announced to award the “Paolo Farinella” Prize for the year 2019. The prize consists of a plate, a certificate and the amount of 1500 €. The winner is expected to give a Prize lecture at the EPSC/DPS awards special session.
2. The winner will be selected on the basis of his/her overall research results in the field of “The Trans-Neptunian Population”.
3. Nominations must be sent by email not later than April 15 to the following addresses: [email protected], [email protected] and[email protected], using the form downloadable from https://www-n.oca.eu/morby/FORM_Paolo_Farinella_Prize_2019.docx
4. The nominations for the “Paolo Farinella” Prize can be made by any researcher that works in the field of planetary sciences following the indications in the attached form. Self nominations are acceptable. The candidates should have international and interdisciplinary collaborations and should be not older than 47 years, the age of Paolo when he passed away, at the date of April 15, 2019.
5. The winner of the prize will be selected before May 20 by the “Paolo Farinella” Prize Committee composed of outstanding scientists in planetary sciences, with specific experience in the field.
6. The Prize Committee will consider all the nominations, but will be entitled to autonomously consider other candidates.

 

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EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR 2019 PLANETARY DEFENSE CONFERENCE

 

The International Academy of Astronautics will hold its 6th Planetary Defense

Conference from April 29 to May 3rd, 2019 in College Park, Maryland, USA.

The bi-annual conference brings together world experts to discuss the threat to

Earth posed by asteroids and comets and actions that might be taken to deflect

a threatening object.

 

§  Key International and Political Developments

§  Advancements in NEO Discovery

§  New NEO Characterization Results

§  Deflection & Disruption Modeling and Testing

§  Mission & Campaign Design

§  Impact Consequences

§  Disaster Response

§  Impact Risk Assessment and Decision to Act

§  Public Education and Communication

 

The conference will include a hypothetical NEO/Earth impact event scenario that

will be part of the conference (similar to what was done at previous conferences, 

https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/pd/cs/ ). Conference attendees may also use the hypothetical 

scenario as their topic for papers and presentations.

 

The NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office would like to remind the

community that the Early Registration deadline is Friday, March 1, 2019.

For more information and to register, visit: http://pdc.iaaweb.org/

 

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UPCOMING PROPOSAL WRITING WORKSHOPS

 

The success of scientists depends upon their ability to obtain funding.

Using Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) from

NASA as a primary example, this workshop will focus on teaching the audience 

key points to writing a successful proposal. Proposal Writing Workshops help 

early career scientists, as well as those looking to improve their previous 

proposal performance. As a result of this session, participants will be able to 

understand the proposal writing, reviewing, and selection process for federally 

funded proposals, and help those who have previously submitted proposals

improve their performance. The workshop will be done in a format that allows 

for a great deal of audience participation. Participants are encouraged to bring

along previous proposal materials and reviews to go through within the group

or for one-on-one Q&A during the workshop.

 

There are two upcoming opportunities to participate in a Proposal Writing

Workshop:

 

Saturday, March 16th: Out to Innovate Conference, 10 AM,

Los Angeles, CA, https://www.noglstp.org/outtoinnovate/ 
 

Sunday, March 17th: 50th LPSC, 1 PM, Houston, TX, https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2019/

 

For more information, please contact Christina Richey, [email protected].

We greatly appreciate support for this (and other upcoming workshops)

from the NASA TWSC Program.

 

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SUMMER SCHOOL IN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS FOR ASTRONOMY

 

We are pleased to announce the 6th offering of Software Systems for Astronomy

(SSfA-6). The course covers software design and implementation of telescope and 

instrument control systems, observation planning tools, and software for analyzing

and archiving astronomical data. SSfA-6 will be offered as a two week intensive

course this summer, 15-Jul to 26-Jul, 2019, on the Big Island of Hawaii.

 

http://astro.uhh.hawaii.edu/Summer/Summer-2019/ssfa19.php

 

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JGR PLANETS: SCIENCE ENABLED BY THE LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER CORNERSTONE MISSION

 

**deadline extended** 

 

A special collection of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets titled

“Science Enabled by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Cornerstone Mission”

is now open for submissions. The deadline for submission has been extended

to 30 April 2019 due to the recent U.S. government shutdown.

 

Please help us celebrate the upcoming LRO 10th anniversary by submitting

to this special collection!

 

This issue will include new studies enabled or enhanced by data from the

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) third extended science mission, the

Cornerstone Mission. The Moon is a witness plate to the history of the Earth-Moon

system and the cornerstone for understanding processes affecting airless bodies

in the Solar System. During the Cornerstone Mission, LRO scientists have

focused on measuring and examining fundamental processes present on the

Moon that operate throughout the Solar System, including processes that are

active today and those that began billions of years ago. Papers for the special

issue are encouraged from the LRO science team and members of the community

who use LRO data to study lunar and other airless body processes.

 

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/jgr/journal/21699100/features/call-for-papers

 

Manuscripts should be submitted through the GEMS website. For additional

information please contact any of the organizers.

 

Thank you,

-Benjamin Greenhagen, Rachel Klima, Cesare Grava, and Brett Denevi

 

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LPSC WORKSHOP: INTRODUCTION TO PLANETARY IMAGE ANALYSIS WITH ARCGIS

 

Introduction to Planetary Image Analysis with ArcGIS, March 17, 2019, LPSC

 

The Spacecraft Planetary Imaging Facility (SPIF) of Cornell University is

offering this free workshop at the upcoming 50th LPSC on Sunday, March 17,

sponsored by the Regional Planetary Image Facility (RPIF) network. This will

be an introductory level course accessible to participants with no prior ArcGIS

experience. The workshop will run from 9:00am to 4:00pm and will cover topics

including ArcGIS basics, spatial analysis, and map document production, mostly

through hands-on exercises using data from Mars Odyssey and Mars Global

Surveyor. Participants will be given a one-year ArcGIS license as part of the workshop.  

Registration is required: https://goo.gl/vajXdS. The deadline for

registration is March 8, 2019. Please contact Zoe Learner Ponterio, SPIF Data

Manager, for more information at [email protected].

 

 

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4TH VIRTUAL MEPAG MEETING (VM4)

 

Members of the Mars community,

 

I cordially invite you to participate in the next virtual meeting (VM4) of

the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), scheduled on

Monday, February 25th, 2019, at 2:00-4:00 pm EST. (Note that this meeting

will proceed even in the case of a U.S. government shutdown.)

 

Agenda items will include a progress report from the Ice and Climate

Evolution Science Analysis Group (ICESAG), initial discussions on

Decadal Survey white paper preparations, and if available, any budget

news from NASA. Additionally, if the potential Pre-Decadal Survey

Studies NRA (NASA Research Announcement) call is out, then Lori

Glaze will also present. The current agenda and WebEx connectivity

information can be found here. Updates to the agenda and presentations

will be posted to the MEPAG meeting website (https://mepag.nasa.gov/meetings.cfm).

 

The meeting is open to all members of the Mars science community

including our international colleagues. I look forward to your participation.

 

Sincerely,

Dr. Jeffrey R. Johnson
MEPAG Chair

 

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JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES

 

A)  CALTECH POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR

 

Applications are invited for a Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar position in

Small Bodies of the Solar System at Caltech/IPAC. The successful applicant

will work with Professors George Helou and Tom Prince on the discovery

and characterization of asteroids including Near-Earth Objects (NEO) using

data from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) – https://www.ztf.caltech.edu . 

ZTF is a time-domain survey of the sky using a 47 square degree camera on 

the Samuel Oschin 48-inch Schmidt telescope at Palomar, and a data system

with advanced Moving Object Discovery capability.  ZTF scans more than

3750 square degrees an hour to a depth of 20.5 mag, with a variety of sky

coverage schemes and cadences, some of which are optimized for finding

asteroids and NEOs. 

The successful applicant will implement the effort to find and report asteroids/NEOs,

working with the ZTF team at Caltech and the ZTF worldwide Solar System

Science Working Group.  A considerable number of tools and processes are

in place already, so the effort will focus on refining and exercising these tools

in a sustained fashion. 

The successful applicant will also have a fraction of their time for independent 

research, preferably aligned with the ZTF Solar System assignment, and utilizing

resources at Caltech and IPAC. 

The appointment will be for two years, with a possible extension for an additional

year, subject to the availability of funds.  To apply, please email the following in

a single pdf file: (1) a brief cover letter describing your interest in the position,

(2) a curriculum vitae, (3) publication list, (4) the names and contact information

of three references, and (5) a summary of previous and current research (limited

to 3 pages). 

Application materials should be sent to [email protected]  . 

Complete applications submitted by March 6, 2019 will receive full consideration,

but review of applications will continue until a candidate has been identified. 

Applicants must hold a Ph.D. degree in astrophysics or related fields by the starting

date (summer 2019, but earlier start dates are possible). 

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive 

consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual

orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status,

or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage members of groups that

have been underrepresented in STEM fields to apply.

 

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Send submissions to: 

Anne Verbiscer, DPS Secretary ([email protected]) 

 

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