Department News

The Department of Planetary Sciences/Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona has available a tenured or tenure-track faculty position. Candidates in all areas of planetary science are encouraged to apply. Current faculty and research staff are engaged in many facets of planetary science, including planetary surfaces, interiors, atmospheres, the Sun and heliosphere, exoplanetary systems, comparative planetary studies, origins of planetary systems, and orbital dynamics. They employ tools such as theoretical studies and data analysis, laboratory and field investigations, telescopic observations, remote sensing, and spacecraft development, operations, and instrumentation. The faculty, research staff, and graduate student body are drawn from the diverse backgrounds of planetary science, astronomy, chemistry, geology, physics, and engineering. Additional information concerning the Department/Laboratory is available on the Lunar and Planetary Lab site.

Successful candidates will teach at all levels, from freshman through advanced graduate classes. They will establish and maintain a distinguished research program in the field of planetary sciences and will supervise graduate students. Salary is dependent on qualifications. To be considered for an appointment above the rank of Assistant Professor, candidates must have an internationally recognized record of distinguished scientific achievement, leadership, and teaching ability in the planetary sciences. To be considered for appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor, candidates must demonstrate clear promise of such achievement.

Review of applications will begin on November 15, 2012, and will continue until the position is filled. The starting date for the appointment is anticipated to be August 12, 2013. Applicants must complete the online application at UA CareerTrack (search for Job Number 51233). Inquiries and supporting application materials, including a CV with publication list, statement of research interests, statement of teaching philosophy, and the names and addresses of at least four references may be submitted to:

Professor Timothy D. Swindle
Head, Department of Planetary Sciences
Director, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
The University of Arizona
1629 E. University Blvd.
Tucson, Arizona 85721-0092

(520) 621-4128

The University of Arizona is an EEO/AA employer - M/W/D/V.

Michael Sussman joined LPL in August 2012, working on simulations of giant planet atmospheric circulation with Professor Adam Showman. Michael earned his Ph.D. in 2011 from New Mexico State University researching the seasonal variation of Uranian winds, as well as quantifying secular changes to Jovian ovals. Michael originally hails from Chicago, attending undergrad at a Great Books school in the Chicago suburbs. Prior to joining the field of planetary science, he worked in experimental neuroimaging, mapping cognitive function to neuroanatomical structures. In his spare time, Michael enjoys biking, playing classical piano, and composing electronic music.

Welcome, Michael!

In August, the grad students organized the 15th annual Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Conference. The first day of the conference featured a panel discussion entitled "Funding in Planetary Science: The present and future of our field".  The panel included LPL professors Alfred McEwen and Bill Hubbard, recent LPL graduate Kathryn Gardner-Vandy, and PSI scientists Mark Sykes and David O'Brien. The panelists shared their perspectives on topics ranging from mission budget overruns to job prospects for young scientists. The discussion was well received by the audience, who participated with many comments and questions, making for an excellent discussion on an important current topic that affects all those who work in or care about planetary science.

This year, for the first time, LPLC featured an award for the best presentation by a graduate student. The competition for this award was held on the morning of the second day of the conference, and featured 11 graduate students presenting their research. Three LPL professors judged the talks and presented Kat Volk with the award, for her presentation on "The origin of resonant Kuiper belt objects."  The quality of the graduate student presentations was such that the judges decided to add an award for the second best talk. This award went to Ingrid Daubar for her talk on "The Current Martian Cratering Rate and Possible Seasonal Variations."

Finally the conference came to a close with an exciting keynote presentation by Caitlin Griffith, about her recent discovery of equatorial lakes on Titan.

Overall, the 2012 LPLC was a complete success.  We hope to see everybody again next year.

This past summer, LPL graduate students Meghan Cassidy, James Keane, and Rob Zellem were given the chance to run the Mars + Beyond exhibit at Tucson's Science Downtown. Along with LPL's Maria Schuchardt and Dolores Hill, the grads held two public events which attracted over 500 people. Rob Zellem writes, "We were extremely excited for the amount of interest and support we received for our events at Science Downtown. We had a few outside groups run some activities, like U of A Connections [a University science outreach group] and Pima Air and Space Museum. The hundreds of people who came to our events just speaks volumes on how hungry Tucson is for science---they came to the events despite the summer heat and the downtown streetcar construction. We also made some great connections with other grads not only in LPL but also in other departments." While Science Downtown is slated to close this fall, Zellem hopes to bring this summer's energy and experience on-campus to help promote the LPL brand.

On Thursday, September 20, LPLers were treated to an extraordinary site: the Space Shuttle Endeavour, piggy-backed on a 747 aircraft, soaring over the Kuiper building and the UA mall as it made its way from Houston to a permament retirement home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Spectators across Tucson, and especially those atop and in front of the Kuiper Building, were thrilled to see Endeavour at 1,500 feet above ground level.

Endeavour flew over Tucson at the request of her last commander, astronaut Mark Kelly, in honor of Kelly's wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Kelly and Giffords watched the fly-over from the UA mall.

Credit: Cecilia Leung.

Credit: Benjie Sanders/Arizona Daily Star.

Credit: Maria Schuchardt.

Credit: AP Photo/Southwest Photo Bank, P.K. Weis.

Credit: James Keane.

NASA’s largest competed planetary science missions are those in the New Frontiers class. Those familiar with LPL know that the New Frontiers mission OSIRIS-REx, which will return a sample from the near-Earth object Bennu, is being operated out of LPL, with Professor Dante Lauretta as the Principal Investigator. But it seems that every New Frontiers mission has strong LPL ties, so when NASA announced the two finalists for the next New Frontiers mission, it was no surprise that both missions had LPLers in critical roles.

One of the two is CAESAR, a sample return mission to Comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the target for ESA’s recent Rosetta mission. Dante Lauretta is the Mission Sample Scientist for CAESAR, and Associate Professor Tom Zega is also a Co-Investigator.

The other is Dragonfly, a mission to explore Saturn’s moon Titan with a quadcopter. There, the PI is LPL alumna Elizabeth Turtle, the Deputy PI is alum Jason Barnes, and Co-Is include alums Sarah Hörst, Jeff Johnson, Erich Karkoschka (currently a Staff Scientist at LPL), Juan Lora, Catherine Neish, and Jani Radebaugh, as well as former LPL postdocs Ralph Lorenz and Aileen Yingst.

The mission that is ultimately selected (probably in 2019) will be the fourth New Frontiers mission, and will keep LPL’s record of significant involvement in such missions intact.

The first New Frontiers mission was New Horizons, which visited Pluto and is now en route to a New Year’s Day encounter with Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69. That mission’s Co-Is include LPL grads Marc Buie, Dale Cruikshank, Will Grundy and John Spencer, as well as former LPL postdocs Mihaly Horanyi and Bill McKinnon. Grundy is the Composition Theme Team Lead, and Spencer and McKinnon are Deputy Team Leads.

The second was Juno, the mission currently in orbit around Jupiter. Professor Emeritus Bill Hubbard played a key role in its development, and remains a Co-I. Other Co-Is include former LPL professor Jonathan Lunine, former LPL postdoc Tristan Guillot, and, until his death, LPL alum Toby Owen.

LPL is pleased to announce a new graduate student award named for a former department scientist. The LPL Leif Andersson Award for Service and Outreach will be awarded annually to a PTYS graduate student in recognition for attention to broader impacts and involvement in activities outside of academic responsibilities that benefit the department, university, and the larger community.

Leif Andersson went from being a national television quiz show star in Sweden to an LPL researcher. At LPL, he worked on mapping craters on the Far Side of the Moon based on Lunar Orbiter images from the 1960s. He died from cancer in 1979, at age 35. His family established the Leif Andersson Award for Graduate Student Service and Outreach in 2018.

Leif (prounced “Lafe”, with a long “a”) was born in Stenastorp, Sweden, and became a leader of a group of schoolchildren interested in science, forming a science fiction club and participating with his friends in launching homemade rockets in the late 1950s. He acquired fame in Sweden on a game show whose name translates as “Double or Nothing—The 10,000 Kronor Question” (based on the “The $64,000 Question” in America). In the show, a contestant was quizzed on a particular subject. When a contestant won the 10,000 kronor prize based on knowledge of astronomy, Leif, then 16, was encouraged to challenge that contestant, and Leif won. He went on to get a degree from Lund University in Sweden, before moving to the United States to earn a Ph.D. at Indiana University. He completed his Ph.D., based on observations of Pluto, in 1974, then moved to LPL. A lunar crater (appropriately, on the Far Side) is named Andersson in his honor, and there is an asteroid named 9223 Leifandersson. Given his connection with the popularization of science through television and science fiction, it is appropriate to name an award for service and public outreach in his honor.

Read more about the 2018 Andersson award recipient, Maria Steinrück, in the Graduate News chapter of this newsletter (https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/news/2018/spring/11th-annual-college-science-graduate-student-awards).

PTYS undergraduate minor Adriana Mitchell has won a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship, which awards students who show exceptional promise of becoming leaders in their STEM field. The scholarship includes a $7,500 stipend which Adriana will use for summer 2018 travel to Japan to work with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency in creating mission-vital image data products for the Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission. Working with Dr. Lucille Le Corre (Planetary Science Institute), Adriana will create tools for projecting 2D images of asteroid Ryugu on to 3D shape model. Adriana was previously a NASA Space Grant intern working with Vishnu Reddy on special characterization of asteroids. In August 2017, she tracked the solar eclipse as part of the Citizen CATE project. This year, Adriana will receive funds from the LPL Curson Travel endowment, which she will apply toward her summer research travel. Adriana will begin her senior year as a University of Arizona Optical Sciences major in the fall.

The Kuiper Space Sciences Building is getting a fresh look this spring. We're getting new paint on the walls and door frames, and new ceiling tiles. While the Kuiper residents and the crew working around each other was sometimes troublesome for both groups, the results are a huge improvement. Thanks to the UA Facilities Management paint crew for brightening up our spaces! From left to right: Nidia, Adam, Barbara, Charlie, James, Bobby; and Manny, not pictured here.