DPS Meeting, Washington, DC, October 2015

Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting, Washington, DC, October 2015

I was at the AAS-DPS meeting in October 2015 in Washington DC (well, actually 'National Harbor', which is a new subdivision in Maryland, and which is neither in the capital, nor much of a harbor). I gave several talks -- about Pluto, New Horizons, and outreach work in Africa -- and carried a couple of cameras with me through the sessions. Thanks to everyone for letting me take these pictures!

Usually I bring a flash and softbox with me, but this year I decided to go for the 'natural' look of that beautiful conference-room lighting.

I've put these same photos up as an album on Facebook. The link will work even if you're not on Facebook.

My photos from previous DPS meetings: Denver 2013, Nantes 2011, Puerto Rico 2009

Thumbnails

Slideshow (big images)

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Jump to section:

   New Horizons
   Oral Sessions
   Q&A
   Grad Student + Postdoc Reception
   Poster Sessions
   DPS Committee Meeting
   DPS Business Meeting
   Between Sessions
   Plenary Talks
   Space Art Exhibit
   Prize Lectures
   Agency Night
   Policy Lunch
   Senate Briefing
   DPS Talent Night

New Horizons

	Let's start with some New Horizons! This DPS was the first release of many new science results -- the first day had some 35 NH-related talks.
	PI Alan Stern (SwRI) gets things going...
	I don't know if Alan Stern's co-authorship on 63 DPS abstracts is record, but it must be close.
	Project Scientist Hal Weaver (APL) talks small moons.
	Hal Weaver.
	John Spencer (SwRI) discusses that young Pluto surface.
	And Jeff Moore (NASA Ames) shows some awesome Pluto geology.
	Jeff Moore.
	Deputy Project Scientist Leslie Young (SwRI) is up next!
	Bill McKinnon (Washington U.) talks geophysics.
	Will Grundy loves spectra.
	Andy Cheng (APL) points at some of those beautiful LORRI pixels.
	Randy Gladstone (SwRI) discusses stellar occultations from the Alice UV spectrometer.
	Randy Gladstone and Dale Cruikshank.
	Dale Cruikshank (NASA Ames).
	Fran Bagenal (U. Colorado) reports on plasma and solar wind results.
	Kurt Retherford is supervised carefully by moderator Amanda Bosh.
	And Ralph McNutt (APL) goes into atmospheric escape observations by PEPPSI.
	Michael Summers (George Mason) talks about global haze production at Pluto, which may be similar to that at Titan.
	Ivan Linscott summarizes the radio science results.
	Ivan Linscott (Stanford), Alan Stern (SwRI), Kelsi Singer (SwRI).
	Peter Kollmann (APL) talks about SWAP results at Pluto.
	Francois Forget (Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique, Paris)
	Who needs New Horizons when Mark Gurwell (CfA) can see Pluto using ALMA at 0.86 mm! With Leslie Young.
	Neither Amanda Bosh (MIT) nor Leslie Young appear occulted here.
	Amanda Sickafoose (South African Astron. Obs.) doesn't need New Horizons to talk about Pluto haze particle sizes from the 2015 occultation.
	It's a packed room!
	Bill and Kate McKinnon et al in the front row.
	Don Davis starts off the 3D geology party in style.
	Bill McKinnon
	Dale Cruikshank
	Carly Howett (SwRI) and Sandrine Guerlet (Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique, France), with Kate McKinnon and Roger Clark in the background. But why are they looking at me? I am definitely not red-green formatted this morning -- you should all be looking at Pluto instead!
	If only we had solar eclipse glasses too!

	Amanda Bosh.
	Kelsi Singer.
	Bonnie Buratti (JPL), with Leslie Young, Jim Green (HQ), Alan Stern, and Dale Cruikshank.
	Joel Parker (SwRI).
	Fran Bagenal, Dale Cruikshank.
	Jay Pasachoff (Williams College) with Leslie Young.
	Rick Binzel and Alissa Earle (both MIT).
	And Amanda Zangari (SwRI) brings a full suite of I-<3-Sputnik-Planum shirts! This particular one I ordered for my 6-year-old son Finn. It's his favorite shirt... except when his sister dresses the same way, and then he wants to wear his pangolin instead.

Oral Sessions

	Morgan Rehnberg (U. Colorado) in the Planetary Rings session.
	Diane Berard (Observatoire de Paris) talks about Chariklo occultations!
	Christine Trimble (Arizona State) discusses Saturn's A ring.
	Tracy Becker (UCF).
	Mark Lewis and Alex Hansen (both Trinity), with Mitch Gordon slightly occulted at right.
	Bonnie Meinke (STScI) and Sanlyn Buxner (PSI) talk with me about E/PO they're doing.
	Jordan Steckloff (Purdue, but now PSI), Chrissy Richey (HQ), and Scott Edgington (JPL) are occulted by a strange blue halo.
	Patrick Taylor (Arecibo) demonstrates how Sondy Springmann (UA) has developed such good radio reception.

Q&A

	Mike Wong (Caltech).
	Gary Simmons (U. Colorado).
	Amanda Zangari (SwRI).
	Wes Fraser (Queens U. Belfast)
	Lance Benner (JPL).
	Dan Britt (UCF) and Bill Bottke (SwRI), along with AAS volunteer Josh Elliott.
	John Cooper (GSFC).
	James Keane (LPL).
	Angela Zalucha (SETI Institute).
	Athena Coustenis (Obs. Paris)

Grad Student + Postdoc Reception

	Candace Gray (NMSU / APO, at right) organized the Grad Student + Post-Doc Reception. Several dozen people attended, as well as a handful of senior members to give 'advice'... Nicholas Stamper (U. Tenn) is at the center with the microphone, giving his group's reponse to some great questions about policy and future science goals for the country.
	John Blalock (Hampton U).
	Michael Poston (Caltech).
	Victoria Hartwick (CU Boulder)
	Peter Gao (Caltech), Victoria Hartwick, Kayla DeVogel (NMSU), John Blalock (speaking, at center), ?, Morgan Rehnberg (far right).
	??, ??, and Shannon McKenzie (U. Idaho).
	??? and Shannon McKenzie
	Caixia Bu (UVA).

Poster Sessions

	Sarah Noble (HQ) and Vishnu Reddy (PSI) can't wait to head down to the poster session.
	Justin Garland, Emerson DeLarme, and Andrew Foster (all UCF) discuss something awesome.
	The French accent and rapid coffee-quaffing of Sebastien Charnoz (U. Paris) slightly intimidate Tracy Becker.
	Mohamed Ali-Dib (U. Toronto)
	Vincent Hue (U. Bordeaux) knows how to properly dress!
	Silvia Protopapa (UMD) and Carly Howett reunite after many weeks together in the Composition team room at the New Horizons encounter.
	Tommy Grav (PSI).
	Tyler Linder (Astronomical Research Institute) is happy to discuss NEO photometry with you.
	Mona Delitsky (California Specialty Engineering) shows off that Venusian sulphuric acid poster to Nicholas Stamper, Chad Melton (both UTK).
	Chad Melton.
	Dave Trilling (NAU) refuses to remove his 3D glasses after Monday's Pluto session. Kelly Fast (HQ), while modeling the latest Star Trek wear, supports that decision.
	Maria Womack (U. Southern Florida) is no longer wearing her NSF hat.
	When not looking at Mercurian stratigraphy, harpist Maria Banks (PSI) works Broadway. "So I'm doing the Fantasticks now on 50th Street. But during the breaks, I've got my highlighter out, and I'll read some JGR papers. It's a good way to focus, since there's no distractions when you're up there."
	Simon Porter and Erika Barth (both SwRI).
	Mary Beth Wilhelm (Georgia Tech / Ames) and George McDonald (Georgia Tech).
	Sanjay Limaye (U. Wisconsin) tells me more in five minutes about the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission than I've learned in three months of living in Mumbai.
	Vivian Hoette (Astronomical Research Institute) talks with Tommy Grav about NEO photometry and E/PO projects. Really cool stuff they're doing. Vivian has worked with many teachers using the telescopes at Yerkes.
	Nancy Chanover (NMSU) and Glenn Stark (Wellesley).
	Tim Livengood (GSFC).
	Bekki Dawson (UCB, now Penn State), Amanda Zangari, Glenn Stark (Wellesley), Sondy Springmann, Nancy Chanover. Can you guess who is not a Wellesley alum here? And hey, where's Faith Vilas when you need her?!
	Sondy Springmann, Chrissy Richey, Angela Zalucha, Candace Gray.
	Angela Zalucha's poster gets a bit of critical eye from Candace Gray.

	Candace Gray.
	Back to Pluto! Jon Marchant and Robert Smith (both Liverpool John Moores University) talk spectroscopy.
	Something has gone clearly wrong here.
	Check it out! Posters of photos, on TV! Science News gets close-up with my poster.
	Dave Schleicher (Lowell) with me and my poster.
	Chrissy Richey.
	Maybe the most important poster at DPS!
	Dawn Gelino (Caltech).
	Kara Hartig (Brown) and Michael Skrutskie (UVA).
	Who did all of the work? Carolina Carriazo! Or so says Aaron Resnick and Jason Mackie (all Amherst).
	Aaron Resnick.
	Stephen Gwyn (NRC Herzberg).
	Michael Person, Carlos Zuluaga, Amanda Zangari, and Elisabeth Adams all insist on piloting Calvin Foster-Adams through the poster session.
	Calvin Foster-Adams missed the abstract deadline this time around, but he'll be back next year.
	Bob Pappalardo (JPL).
	Dan Durda has brought his sister Cathy Caschera and mom Lillian Durda for some thrilling poster-session action.
	Richard Cartwright (APL) tries to impress Anne Verbiscer with his plots of the 2.2-micron Uranian satellite dark material distribution.
	Gary Simmons (U. Colorado) shows validation results from his 3D thermal evolution models. But hang on -- that famous Tethys Pac-Man is now dark purple!
	Mark Showalter and Mitch Gordon point as Matt Tiscareno observes. Mark: 'But if you had a 27" screen on your laptop, those rings particles would be right up here!'
	Lucas Paganini (GSFC), Ganna Portyankina (CU Boulder), and Geronimo Villanueva (GSFC).
	Paul Withers (BU) has a new co-author.

	PSI has risen to success due to Mark Sykes' insistence on thorough internal vetting of proposals through our red-team process. Soon, Mark is going to start teaching us the secrets of poster design as well!

DPS Committee Meeting

	And the DPS Committee meets! From left: Carly Howett, Josh Emery (U Tenn), Andy Rivkin (APL), Joe Spitale (PSI), Ross Beyer (occulted, SETI), Bonnie Meinke, Paul Withers (Boston U), Jani Radebaugh (BYU), incoming chair Jason Barnes (U. Idaho), outgoing chair Bonnie Buratti. Right hand side: Anne Verbiscer, Vishnu Reddy, Amy Lovell, Tony Roman (dark hair), Lucy McFadden, and Heidi Hammel (AURA) in the blue. Next year I will get an actual group photo, I swear.
	Joe Spitale.
	Anne Verbiscer, Vishnu Reddy, Amy Lovell, Tony Roman.
	Tony Roman and Lucy McFadden.
	Carly Howett and Josh Emery.
	Paul Withers.

DPS Business Meeting

	One of the main orders of business: handing over the DPS Chair's gavel, this year from Bonnie Buratti to Jason Barnes.
	And another big order of business: counting votes! Anne Verbiscer does the work, assisted by Tony Roman (visible only by his eyebrow, on upper right.)
	Simone Marchi (SwRI) and Carol Raymond (JPL).

Between Sessions

	Helen Hart (APL), Sanjay Limaye, and Padma Yanamandra-Fisher (SSI) outside the plenary hall.
	Carly Howett, Nicolas Gorius (Catholic U), and John Spencer sit in the hotel's "outdoor" indoor seating area.
	Nalin Samarasinha (PSI) hopes for a comet to come crashing through the gigantic glass atrium we're all sitting under.
	Kate McKinnon + Bob Pappalardo.
	Does this top-secret napkin depict Pluto surface convection? Gas transport? RT? if only I knew...
	David Grinspoon (PSI) and freshly-minted spouse Jennifer Goldsmith re-enact a kiss from an earlier Pasadena DPS meeting.
	Outside with PSI for dinner. From left: Julie Rathbun, Paul Weissman, Jennifer Goldsmith, Maria Banks, Paul Abell, David Grinspoon, David O'Brien, Liz Jensen, Robert Nelson, Sanlyn Buxner, Tommy Grav, Roger Clark, Jules Goldspiel, Tom Prettyman, Mark Sykes, Jian-Yang Li, Henry Hseih, Nalin Samarasinha, Zou Xiaduan, Candy Hansen, Amanda Hendrix.

Plenary Talks

	Paul Weissman (PSI) and Lori Feaga (UMD) debate who should give the next plenary.
	Paul Weissman.
	Brett Denevi (APL) debates Mercury vs. Moon.
	Bruce Jakosky (U. Colorado) talks MAVEN.
	Michael Chaffin (U. Colorado).
	Bekki Dawson talks about close-in exoplanets.
	Bekki Dawson.
	Moderator Erika Nesvold makes sure that no one misbehaves during that plenary.

Emily Rauscher (U. Michigan) gives an overview of the many faces of exoplanets.

(And for what it's worth, the lighting behind the speakers seemed to change between every session. Sometimes it was bright red, sometimes blue+purple; here it's the monochromatic green look.)

Space Art Exhibit

	Aki Roberge (GSFC) wishes she had an asteroid to call her own.
	Dawn Gelino, Giada Arney (U. Washington), and Aki Roberge at the Space Art exhibit.
	Aki Roberge and Dan Durda.

Prize Lectures

	Not only does Yuk Yung (Caltech) receive the Kuiper Prize for his life-long work on atmospheres, but he also receives an asteroid, presented by Bonnie Buratti! However, for an expert on the chemistry of planetary atmospheres, he may be disappointed by the lack of anything above the picobar level on (19370) Yukyung.
	Bonnie Buratti presenting the Kuiper award to Yuk Yung, along with his two biggest collaborators: his wife Shau May, and Richard Goody (Harvard).
	Check out that asteroid!
	Yuk Yung.
	Yuk Yung.
	Yuk's talk is documented by Mike Wong (Caltech) and Rick Fienberg (AAS).
	Richard Goody.
	Dan Durda gets the Sagan medal from Bonnie Buratti, from his many years of work talking with the public about astronomy and exploration: dozens of TV shows, late-night radio interviews about aliens, and on and on.
	As per tradition, Dan Durda doesn't give a lecture to the DPS about speaking to the public, but gave a talk later at the Griffith Observatory in LA.
	Dan Durda's sister Cathy and mom Lillian are sufficiently impressed with that hefty Sagan medal!
	Freelance journalist Stephen Battersby. I missed an action shot of him, but he was given the Eberhart Award for science writing.
	And Geronimo Villanueva gets the Urey Prize for his diversity of work in instrumention and atmospheric observations.
	Geronimo Villanueva.
	Geronimo Villanueva.
	And Chrissy Richey gets the Masursky award for community service. Chrissy has worked hard to bring awarness and accountability to issues of harrassment in the field -- something which I know I'm much more conscious of due to her work. NB: Several high-profile harrassment cases in astronomy were in the news during 2015, but Chrissy was chosen for this award this even before those were widely known.
	Chrissy Richey.
	A cheering section for Chrissy Richey: her mom Marcia Richey, aunt Kathryn Kidder, Hannah Wakeford, and half of Sarah Noble.
	Chrissy Richey.
	A rare and well-deserved standing ovation after Chrissy Richey's talk.
	Chrissy Richey, Dan Durda, and Stephen Battersby outside the plenary hall.
	Lillian and Dan Durda.

Agency Night

	Jim Green (NASA HQ) starts things off with his usual list of all of the currently operating missions run by SMD. It's always impressive to see, and we are so grateful to Jim for his work, and to NASA and the US for funding us to to explore this amazing solar system.
	James Neff (NSF), with Jonathan Rall, Jim Green, and Pat Knezek.
	NASA R&A lead Jonathan Rall (HQ) and Jim Green come up with a plan!
	Patricia Knezek (NSF)
	Hannah Wakeford (GSFC), Chrissy Richey, and Sarah Noble.
	Jason Barnes.
	Mark Sykes: "What? Rall has sent me ONE HUNDRED MILLION USD if I just call this number in Nigeria and pledge to shut my mouth and stop complaining about R&A funding forever!"

Policy Lunch

	At the 'Planetary Policy in Turbulent Budget Times' panel session: from left, John Logsdon (GWU), Nicholas Cummings (US House, Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness), Meredith Drosback (White House OSTP), Casey Dreier (Planetary Society), and Makenzie Lystrup (Ball).
	Makenzie Lystrup and Casey Dreier.
	Makenzie Lystrup.
	Nicholas Cummings and Meredith Drosback.

Senate Briefing

	Several DPS members head over to the US Senate to put on a lunchtime briefing for senators and staffers. Carrie Nugent (Caltech) is going to talk about NEA observations and impact hazards.
	Max Bernstein (NASA HQ) and Alan Stern.
	Makenzie Lystrup starts off the 'Dramatic Discoveries in Our Solar System' briefing.
	First up: Bonnie Buratti. That slide in the background (captioned 'Women Powered the New Horizons Project') is a great contrast to the Apollo era.
	Mary Beth Wilhelm (Georgia Tech / Ames) talks about her co-discovery of recent surface water on Mars.
	Mary Beth Wilhelm explores Earth in an astronaut suit.
	Who can resist watching some great YouTube Chelyabinsk movies? Certainly not this group!
	Carrie Nugent and Mary Beth Wilhelm.

Alan Stern gives a New Horizons update.

	Unplanned but true: New York Times headlines separated by 50 years to the day. July 17, 1965 reads 'First Mars Photo Is Transmitted', from Mariner 4. With Alan Stern.
	John Grunsfeld (HQ - sporting that fancy Mars alien tie), Max Bernstein, Lindley Johnson (HQ).
	Jim Green.
	Carrie Nugent gets a lot of interest in her meteorite samples!
	Carrie Nugent with former House Science Committee staffer Bill Adkins.
	Jonathan Rall and Makenzie Lystrup.
	Jonathan Rall has taken a class on proper Senate protocol, which he here demonstrates.
	Outside the Senate briefing room: Mary Beth Wilhelm, Makenzie Lystrup, Alan Stern, Bonnie Buratti, Carrie Nugent.
	Watch out! Mary Beth Wilhelm, Makenzie Lystrup, Alan Stern, Bonnie Buratti, Carrie Nugent.

DPS Talent Night

	And the event we've all been waiting for: DPS Talent Night! MC Andy Rivkin starts the evening going.
	Andy Rivkin.
	Andy Rivkin.
	Dan Tamayo (U. Toronto).
	Brian Jackson (Boise State).
	Brian Jackson
	The Traveling Planetburys: Joel Parker, Marc Buie, Julien Salmon (all SwRI).
	Marc Buie.
	David Grinspoon, Luke Dones (SwRI), Christine Gonzales, John Spencer.
	Joel Parker, Marc Buie, Julien Salmon.
	Marc Buie.
	Mahmuda Afrin Badhan (UMD).
	Mahmuda Afrin Badhan
	Sally Blumenthal (UCF). She claims to be reading lyrics, but could well be running some python code simultaneously.
	Sally Blumenthal + Joe 'Spaghetti' Spitale.
	Joe Spitale.
	And check out that audience! Kelsi Singer, Amanda Zangari, Alissa Earle, Julie Rathbun, and thousands more pack the Gaylord conference room!
	Tanguy Bertrand (U. Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris)
	Sylvain Philippe (Institut de Planetologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, France)
	Sylvain Philippe and Tanguy Bertrand (U. Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris).
	Jennifer Grier co-MC's.
	David Grinspoon channels his times jamming in Maii.
	David Grinspoon.
	David Grinspoon.
	David Grinspoon's guitar has a bit of chalk dust left from this afternoon's derivations.
	David Grinspoon.
	David Grinspoon.
	And she even brought that harp!! Maria Banks.
	Andy Rivkin, Joe Spitale, Maria Banks.
	Maria Banks.
	Sylvain Philippe, Tanguy Bertrand, and more.
	Gary Simmons on keyboards.
	Anne Raugh (UMD) does a spoken word piece.
	Ann Raugh.
	Catherine Neish (PSI and U. Western Ontario) and Brian Jackson.
	Catherine Neish and Brian Jackson.
	Catherine Neish and Brian Jackson.
	Sally Blumenthal and most of Joe Harrington.
	... and for an encore performance, Sally Blumenthal brings down the house with an aria. Hey, if you could do Piangero la sorte mia (from Act III, Scene 1 of Handel's Giulio Cesare), why not?
	Sally Blumenthal.
	Matt Tiscareno and Joe Spitale confer afterwards.

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Henry Throop

Last modified Wed Aug 31 22:28:35 2016