Jason Barnes (2004) and Gwen Bart-Barnes (2007) became the parents of twins on November 23, 2009. The Barnes family now includes a baby girl, Cassiopeia Brynn Barnes, and a baby boy, Tycho Ethan Barnes. Jason and Gwen are both at the University of Idaho; Jason is an Assistant Professor of Physics and Gwen is an Assistant Research Professor of Physics. Best wishes to Jason, Gwen, and the beautiful twins!
Jonathan Fortney (2004) has been named a 2010 Sloan Research Fellow in Physics. The Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise. These two-year fellowships are awarded yearly to 118 researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. Jonathan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics University of California, Santa Cruz. We extend our congratulations to Jonathan on receipt of this prestigious fellowship!
The stork visited David (2009) and Juliet on January 4, 2010, and delivered baby Leo Alexander at 3:40p.m. MST. Vitals: 6 lb, 11 oz, 20 inch. David and Juliet are now living in Boulder, where David is a research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder. He studies planetary dynamics. Best wishes to the Minton family from everyone at LPL!
Guy Consolmagno (1978) appeared on the Colbert Report in a segment title "Gold, Frankincense and Mars" (Tuesday, December 1, 2009). He more than holds his own with Colbert while explaining why the Vatican accepts the possibility of alien life. Guy Consolmagno is curator of the Vatican meteorite collection His latest book is "God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion."
See the clip on Comedy Central.
PTYS/LPL alumna Jade Bond (2008) married Jason Carter on February 26, 2011, at St. Ann's Chapel in Tucson. Jade is currently a postdoctoral research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. Best wishes to Jade and Jason!
Steve Pearce earned his Ph.D. from PTYS/LPL in 1995, working with Gene Levy. The title of his dissertation is "Core-mantle interactions resulting from sudden changes in the Earth's moment of inertia."
Steve sends the following update:
"I have been full-time faculty at Simon Fraser University (SFU), School of Computing Science, as a Lecturer. I am currently writing a textbook on the theory of technology. Other than that, I haven't been publishing.
I am loosely affiliated with the Dept. of Earth Sciences at SFU, and teach their PTYS course (for poets). I had a Skype interview with Tom Jones last year for the class---it was a hoot!
I had a company that was Kyoto oriented—what a farce that is—went under in 2003.
My website is at http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~stevenp."
Horton Newsom is currently working on impact crater processes on the Earth and Mars. In the last few years, he has visited impact craters in the Arctic, in Africa and India. He is a science team member for the ChemCam Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy experiment on the next Mars Rover mission, the Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity," scheduled to launch in 2011. Says Horton, "I continue to work with many former LPL students, and enjoy working with my current students and post docs."
Nick took time away from his busy schedule as an Associate Professor at UC Boulder to give two PTYS/LPL colloquia last Fall (2008). Nick spoke about "No Ocean for Enceladus' Plumes" and also gave a presentation about using clickers in the classroom.
Our congratulations to Bill Hartmann on being named the recipient of the 2010 Barringer Medal and Award!
The Meteoritical Society presents this prestigious award for outstanding work in the field of impact cratering, and/or work that has led to a better understanding of impact phenomena. William K. Hartmann has been selected for his fundamental contributions to impact crater studies, including development and refinement of crater isochrons, discovery of Mare Orientale, and his seminal work on the origin of the Moon. He also has enlightened the general public about planetary science through his numerous books and artwork.
Bill is an alumnus of the University of Arizona and of LPL: "I came in 1961,when LPL was located in the Physics, Math, and Meteorology Building, PMM. A group of us were located not in PMM but in a Quonset hut called T6, for Temporary Building Number 6. It was a sort of cylindrical shaped structure, on the present location of the science library. We used to have jokes about Kuiper flying into a tizzy over something and saying 'Call T6, call T6' because a bunch of us graduate students over there were either about to be chewed out or he needed us to do something."
William Hartmann is founder of the Planetary Science Institute, where he is now Senior Scientist.
Matthias Peter Kestay was born at 6:38 p.m. on October 7, 2009. He weighed 5 lbs, 5 oz and measured 19 inches long. He has two very happy parents! Laszlo (former LPL post-doc) says, "we appreciate the many congrats that folks sent before we could even send this note!"
Windy Jaeger and Laszlo Kestay (formerly Keszthelyi) are Research Geologists with the Astrogeology Team, U.S. Geological Survey. Congratulations Windy and Laszlo!
