Department News

Andrea Banzatti joined LPL in October 2016 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Associate Professor Ilaria Pascucci. Andrea is trying to unveil unknown parts of the story of planet formation from multi-wavelength observations of protoplanetary disks. By observing them at UV, optical, infrared, and millimeter wavelengths, and especially using high-resolution spectrographs, Andrea is studying the presence of water in planet-forming regions at 0.1-10 AU from the central stars, the dispersal of molecular gas during planet formation, and the effects of variable irradiation on the molecular and organic chemistry in inner disks.

Andrea was born in Milan, Italy, where he lived and studied until 2008. He moved to Munich, Germany, at the European Southern Observatory headquarters for his Master’s thesis on observations of grain growth towards planets in disks. He then moved to the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, for his Ph.D. with Prof. Michael Meyer. Andrea's doctoral research was on infrared spectra of protoplanetary disks, with the goal of understanding the survival of water in planet-forming regions. After completing his Ph.D., Andrea moved to Baltimore for a postdoctoral position with Dr. Klaus Pontoppidan at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); during this time at STScI, Andrea specialized in high-resolution infrared spectroscopy of molecular emission from disks, and on observations of their properties and dispersal during planet formation. Andrea now lives in Tucson with his family: wife, Giulia, and three international children (the first born in Italy, the second in Baltimore, the third in Tucson).

Postdoctoral Research Associate Pierre Haenecour joined LPL in January 2017. He works with Associate Professor Tom Zega as part of the NASA Nexus Earths in Other Solar Systems (EOS) team. Pierre's research is on the characterization and coordinated in-situ study of primitive organic matter in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles using ultrahigh-resolution ion- and electron-microscopy techniques. His research background is in geochemistry and cosmochemistry from terrestrial samples (e.g., Pb and Zn isotopes in Archean komatiitic lava flows) to primitive extraterrestrial samples (e.g., meteorites and micrometeorites) using a variety of analytical techniques (e.g., multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and secondary ion mass spectrometry, Auger and Raman spectroscopy, and electron microscopy). His research interests encompass the study of the building blocks and early history of the Solar System history, and the origin of life.

Pierre grew up in Brussels (Belgium) and graduated with B.A. and M.S. degrees in Geology and Geochemistry from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He then moved to St. Louis (Missouri) and obtained a M.A. degree and a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis. His doctoral research work focused on the identification and coordinated micro-analytical study of circumstellar (presolar) grains in primitive meteorites and fine-grained micrometeorites. Pierre also enjoys exploring the Tucson area and Arizona, as well as travelling, discovering new places and cooking. 

Francine Wetzel is an Administrative Associate who began her career at LPL in January 2017. She works with several groups located on the second floor of the Kuiper Building, including Space Watch, and the research groups of Walt Harris and Vishnu Reddy.

Chéri Winfield joined LPL in December 2016 as an Administrative Associate. She supports several faculty members and groups, including Tim Swindle, NASA Arizona Space Grant, Jeff Andrews-Hanna, and Lynn Carter. Chéri's professional background includes administrative support experience for the Dean of Engineering at the University of New Mexico and 14 years at Raytheon. Before coming to LPL, Chéri worked for a not-for-profit in Tucson.

Congratulations to Glinda Davidson, the 2017 recipient of the LPL Outstanding Staff Award!

Glinda is a longtime member of the LPL administrative staff, with nearly 30 years of service to the department.  She began her career at LPL in 1988 as a Business Office Clerk, advancing to Associate Accountant in 1990. From 1997-2008, Glinda supported the Boynton group and other faculty as an Administrative Associate. She continued supporting faculty as a Senior Program Coordinator before becoming an Administrative Supervisor and Budget Analyst in 2013, and then moving into the role of Grants and Contracts Manager with the LPL Business Office soon after. Her many responsibilities include review and approval of grant submissions, budget changes, no-cost extensions, and grant correspondence, as well as pre-award and post-award compliance. Glinda performs cost projections and meets regularly with the faculty and principal investigators to avoid project deficits and resolve problems. Her work extends beyond preparing and managing budgets—she helps to ensure funding continuity for students, post-doctoral researchers, faculty, and staff. Despite the frustrations that Glinda might encounter in a day she is unfailingly courteous and cooperative. She overcomes the obstacles with a smile every day.

In addition to her responsibilities as the Grants Manager, Glinda also supervises several administrative associates and two members of the business office staff. She is recognized as an outstanding supervisor and a great mentor and coach. Glinda always makes herself available to the staff regardless of other pending priorities.

In the words of one faculty member, "I don't know what my group would do without her...She enables me to be successful." Another faculty member summarizes Glinda's work in this way: "With Glinda, it is not just about balancing the books, it is about helping people and ensuring that they are well taken care of and secure in their lives. That is a tremendous responsibility and she goes out of her way to identify potential issues well in advance to make sure that everything works out for our academic ‘family’."

Glinda's outstanding work previously earned her the staff award in 2000.

by Ali Bramson

The 38^th Annual LPL Bratfest was held on Saturday, November 12. This year’s Fest was BRATLAS V themed, celebrating the successful launch of OSIRIS-REx (onboard an Atlas V launch vehicle). The event was organized by the graduate students, who kicked off the weekend by baking 25+ cheesecakes and a couple of apple pies, as well as making planet-themed piñatas of questionable structural integrity for the children of the Fest to enjoy. Bratfest attendees consumed 300+ brats throughout the night, and also tapped the keg of graduate student-brewed hard cider. The cider was a product of the newly founded “Bratfest Brewing Company (BBC)” and this year’s brew was named “O-CIDER-IS REx”. It featured an ABV of 5%...but the error bars on that number are likely quite large. Despite the event being late in the season, we still managed to have plenty of fresh ears of corn to go around. And, in fact, a mix-up with the order meant we went from unlikely to get the 2-3 requested cases of corn as of Thursday afternoon, to having 23 (!!) cases delivered to Tucson for the festivities. So, if you see a sale on corn around town this week, we’re the reason why. The night ended with karaoke for the first time in recent Bratfest memory, featuring singing by the graduate students’ fake band named “Chaos Terrain.” 

Thanks to everybody that came out to the event, and all the graduate students who chipped in to help grill, bake, drink, and clean, for making this year’s Bratfest extremely successful! See you all next year!

For more information on the history of the LPL Bratfest, and other planetary science Bratfest offshoots around the country (and sometimes the world), see http://bratfest.net/.

The night kicked off with polka music from accordion player Stephen Yool (UA professor of geography).

Attendees of Bratfest 38 enjoying their food and drink.

Members of "Chaos Terrain" serenading Bratfest with their karaoke.