Spring

This year's Leif Andersson Award for Service and Outreach was presented to Alessondra Springmann for her many service, outreach, and mentoring activities—some of her many and varied efforts and activites include: moderating internet support forum of over 1,200 women alumni from her alma mater, Wellesley College; communicating and advocating science with outreach visits to schools, local organizations, events, and research institutions; promoting science with her microblogging and commentary via various podcasts and media such as the Weekly Space Hangout YouTube Series. Notable among Alessondra's outreach efforts is her engagement in activities aimed at middle and high school students in the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Alessondra is an advocate for equity and inclusion in professional science, especially for gender inclusion and for accessibility and inclusion for scientists with disabilities; she speaks publicly on the topic of sexual harassment in science. At LPL, Alessondra works with the Department Life Committee and was key to creating the committee web site, which provides collection of resources related to workplace climate, equity and inclusion. She is also an active member of the LPL Women's Group and undertakes other department service, such as serving as graduate alumni chair and creating and administering a grad student Slack channel.

After Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, Alessondra took the initative to facilitate communication from off-island family to those still on the island and cut-off from other means of communication. She continued her efforts to provide aid to the those affected by the storm, particularly the staff of Arecibo Observatory, by organizing a social media campaign to deliver supplies by using an Amazon wishlist; the result was that the Arecibo Radio Telescope mailroom was stacked with Amazon packages (photo below). These supplies came to be known as "SondyAid."

In addition to receiving the Andersson Award, Alessondra was named the LPL winner of the 2019 College of Science Outreach Award.

The Department of Planetary Sciences/Lunar and Planetary Laboratory was pleased to honor the following students as recipients of the 2019 College of Science Graduate Student Awards (Associate Graduate Council for the College of Science). Students were recognized at the College of Science reception held on April 11 and the LPL spring awards reception on April 17.

Outstanding Scholarship: Hamish Hay

Hamish Hay, recipient of the 2019 LPL Kuiper Award, was also named as the LPL recipient of the College of Science Graduate Student Award for Scholarship. Hamish studies how planets and moons deform in response to tidal forces. Periodic tidal deformation in both the solid and liquid parts of any planet/moon result in heating via friction which has consequences for how their interior structures evolve over time. This is particularly important for the ocean worlds Europa and Enceladus, the most sought after astrobiological targets of future space missions. In particular, Hamish studies how tidal heating occurs in the oceans of icy moons, and how this is affected by miles of ice sitting on top of the ocean’s surface.  Hamish received a Master of Science in Geophysics from Imperial College London, 2014. He is a fifth-year student working with Associate Professor Isamu Matsuyama.

• Hay and Matsuyama, “Tides between the TRAPPIST-1 planets”, The Astrophysical Journal, 2019, 875:22.
• Hay and Matsuyama, “Nonlinear tidal dissipation in the subsurface oceans of Enceladus and other icy satellites,” Icarus 2019, 319:68-85.
• Matsuyama, Beuthe, Hay, et al., “Ocean tidal heating in icy satellites with solid shells,” Icarus, 2018, 312:208-230.
• Hay and Matsuyama, “Numerically modelling tidal dissipation with bottom drag in the oceans of Titan and Enceladus,” Icarus 2017, 281:342-356.

Outstanding Service and Outreach: Alessondra Springmann

Alessondra Springmann, fifth-year student, was the LPL nominee for the College of Science Award for Service and recipient of the LPL Leif Andersson Award for Service and Outreach. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Astrophysics (Wellesley College) in 2007 and a Master of Science in Earth & Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011. 

Alessondra's service work includes: Lunar & Small Bodies Graduate Conference co-organizer; LPL department colloquium graduate organizer; service as moderator for a forum of 1200+ Wellesley alumnæ in academia; outreach volunteer at Spacefest and Tohono O’odham Rodeo; organizer for a supply drive after Hurricane María for surrounding communities of Arecibo, Puerto Rico; Women in Optics “Launching Your Career” panel participant; Instigator of Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society Allyship Auxiliary; discussion lead on harassment in astronomy at LPL and NOAO; Executive Secretary for three NASA Planetary Science review panels; Arecibo Observatory colloquium organizer.

Alessondra is advised by Associate Professor Walt Harris. She studies the effects resulting from thermal processing on asteroids and comets, including release of labile elements from primitive meteorites similar in composition to asteroid (101955) Bennu, and outbursts of dust grains and gases from Jupiter-family comets as observed with ground-based planetary radar and visible-wavelength telescopes. 

Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring: Tracy Esman

Tracy Esman was named the recipient of the College of Science Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring award for LPL, specifically for her work in Professor Steve Kortenkamp's spring 2018 section of PTYS/ASTR 170B2, for which she received the LPL Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. 

Tracy received a bachelor's degree in Astronomy-Physics from the University of Virginia in 2015. She is a fourth-year student advised by Professor Joe Giacalone and Dr. Jared Espley (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center). Her research interests are the magnetic environments of planets. Specifically, Tracy studies plasma interactions between the solar wind and the Martian system, including the resulting waves. These interactions can affect ion escape and create instabilities in the induced magnetosphere. Tracy also studies the crustal magnetic fields on Mars. Many questions remain about how they affect escape of the Martian atmosphere. These regions of increased magnetic fields provide limited protection from the solar wind and a unique area of plasma interactions—the crustal fields may be the key to creating an environment capable of producing lightning 

Congratulations to Molly Simon and Joshua Lothringer, LPL's newest alumni!

On May 7, Molly defended her dissertation, Part I: How Did We Get Here? College Students' Preinstructional Ideas on the Topic of Planet Formation, and the Development of the Planet Formation Concept Inventory; Part II: Evidence for Magnetically Driven Protoplanetary Disk Winds. Molly's advisor was Professor Chris Impey. She is set to begin a position as Education Postdoctoral Fellow with Zooniverse at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.

Joshua defended his dissertation, Characterizing the Atmospheres of Exoplanet Populations: From Sub-Jovian to Ultra-Hot Jupiter Exoplanets, on May 31. In August, Joshua will begin a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. Joshua was the recipient of the 2019 Theoretical Astrophysics Program (TAP) Graduate Student Research Prize. He presented his prize talk, Extremely Irradiated Hot Jupiters: Non-Oxide Inversions, H- Opacity, and Thermal Dissociation of Molecules, on April 1. Professor Travis Barman served as Joshua's advisor.

Dr. Steve Kortenkamp, LPL Associate Professor of Practice, is combining the capabilities of 3D printers with high-resolution spacecraft data (including those from LPL’s HiRISE instrument orbiting Mars) to produce tactile models of planetary terrain. The effort is part of an NSF-funded research project being carried out with his colleagues Drs. Sunggye Hong and Irene Topor in UA’s College of Education. Their group is designing and teaching a planetary science course for young students who are blind or visually impaired, with the aim of identifying ways to increase the representation of these students in STEM fields.

Kortenkamp is developing techniques that begin with software processing of spacecraft data; 3D printing of prototype models is added, culminating with a method of molding and casting duplicates of the models for each of his students. His work with the blind and visually impaired was featured at a Science City booth during the Tucson Festival of Books in March.

During the first year, Dr. Kortenkamp’s students are focusing on impact craters as a tool for studying planetary characteristics. They begin their studies locally by exploring 3D models of Arizona’s Meteor Crater. Then they reach out to the Moon by studying Tycho, Orientale Basin, and the near-side/far-side surface dichotomy. The class culminates on Mars with terrain that reveals evidence of water, such as craters in Athabasca Valles as well as Gusev and Gale craters. In subsequent years, Kortenkamp’s class will include 3D models of volcanoes, canyons, dune fields, asteroids, and cometary nuclei.

Dr. Kortenkamp (right) with his 3D models at Science City. The visitor is using her fingers to read the Braille label on a model of the Moon’s Tycho Crater.

Cast of a 3D-printed model of Gale Crater on Mars. Gale’s central mountain complex is currently being explored by NASA’s Curiosity rover. (Model includes Braille label. Standard Sharpie marker shown for scale.)

Senior Research Scientist Dr. Jozsef Kota retired from LPL this spring (2019). Dr. Kota began his career at LPL in 1996 as a Staff Scientist; however, Jozsef has been working at or with LPL since 1985 under the title of Visiting Scientist.

Dr. Kota received his Ph.D. in Physical Sciences from Roland Eötvös University (Budapest, Hungary) in 1980. His research interests include galactic and anomalous cosmic rays in the heliosphere and solar modulation and anisotropies of cosmic rays; theoretical and numerical modeling of the transport and acceleration of charged energetic particles; space weather; solar energetic particles; solar wind and modeling the evolution of shock waves; and the interaction of solar wind and interstellar matter.

Congratulations to Dr. Travis Barman, who was promoted to Full Professor, and to Dr. Lynn Carter, who has earned Tenure. Travis has been with LPL since 2013; his research interests include exoplanets and planetary formation and evolution. Lynn joined LPL in 2016; her research focus is planetary surfaces.

Dr. Michael Sori was presented with the Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award at the 2019 Awards of Distinction Luncheon and Ceremony, on April 1st.

After receiving his Ph.D. in Planetary Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Michael Sori joined the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Sciences Laboratory in 2014 to pursue postdoctoral training under the mentorship of Dr. Christopher Hamilton and Dr. Shane Byrne. Dr. Sori’s research spans a variety of topics in planetary geophysics, including the origin and evolution of ices and what they tell us about the climates and orbital histories of planets, and how volcanism helps to shape planetary surfaces. Using remote sensing data from spacecraft to inform his geophysical models, he has contributed greatly to the study of the Moon, Mars, Ceres, and Uranian satellites.

Dr. Sori has made outstanding contributions to University of Arizona’s research, outreach, and teaching missions. Since beginning his tenure as a postdoctoral scholar, he has obtained his own funding through NASA and published 14 peer-reviewed articles in high-profile journals such as Nature and Science. These publications illustrate the breadth of his technical ability and understanding of fundamental scientific problems. His discoveries have caught the public’s eye, with one being among the University’s highest profile news stories in 2018. His classroom teaching and mentoring have also earned him the reputation of being a “natural educator.” The University of Arizona is privileged to serve as the postdoctoral home for Michael Sori who is, in the words of his nominators, “a talented and reliable collaborator, an insightful scientist, a great mentor, and a respected role model within our department and within the broader Planetary Sciences community.”

Dr. Pranabendu Moitra joined LPL in August 2018 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate working with Associate Professor Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna. Pranabendu is broadly interested in understanding magma migration and volcanic eruption on Earth and other planetary bodies. His current research focuses on explosive magma-water interaction and volcanic eruption dynamics on Mars. He combines observation and modeling to tackle his current research problems.

Pranabendu grew up in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He completed his M.Sc. in Applied Geology from Jadavpur University, India, in 2008. He received a Ph.D. in Earth Science with a focus on physical volcanology in 2015 from Rice University. His Ph.D. topic focused on the violent eruption of basaltic magma combining rheology experiments, field observation, and numerical modeling. Before arriving at LPL, Pranabendu was a postdoctoral researcher and an adjunct instructor at the University at Buffalo.