AAS Electronic Announcement #202 - November 2009
Date Emailed: 11 November 2009
CONTENTS:
1. D.C. MEETING INFORMATION
2. BLAST! THE MOVIE
3. D.C. MEETING EDUCATION WORKSHOPS & SPLINTER MEETINGS
4. SPLINTER MEETINGS
5. 2010 CONGRESSIONAL VISITS DAY
6. AAS COMMUNICATION CHANNELS SURVEY
7. HEAD ABSTRACTS DUE 1 DECEMBER 2009
8. AAS ELECTRONIC VOTING
9. 2010 AAS MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
10. MIAMI MEETING SPECIAL SESSION PROPOSALS, MEETING-IN-A-MEETING PROPOSALS, & ROOM REQUEST DEADLINE
11. NEW FEATURE IN AAS JOURNALS: AJ COMPILATIONS
12. REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE DDA'S BROUWER AWARD
13. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP ANSWER ASTRONOMICAL INQUIRIES
14. NEW CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS PLANNED FOR CHANDRA DEEP FIELD SOUTH
15. NEXT-GENERATION SUBORBITAL RESEARCHERS CONFERENCE
16. VIKTOR AMBARTSUMIAN PRIZE
Sections 1 & 2 are not available.
3. D.C. EDUCATION WORKSHOPS & SPLINTER MEETINGS
We will hold education workshops and an expanded range of special professional development workshops at the DC meeting along with some special events. They are listed below and details are available online.
CAE/CATS Astro 101 Tier I Teaching Excellence Workshop
Saturday, 2 - Sunday, 3 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form.
2010 NSF Postdoctoral Fellows Symposium
Saturday, 2 - Sunday, 3 January 2010
No registration required.
ASTROZONE: Washington, D.C.
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Marriott Ballroom Salon 3, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
Contact: Emilie Drobnes (emilie.drobnes at nasa.gov)
No registration required.
Using Technology in the Astro 101 Classroom
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form.
Building on IYA: The Galileoscope Program
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form.
Building on IYA: The Dark Skies Awareness Program
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form.
Getting Started in Astronomy Education Research
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form.
Professional Development Workshop Series
Emerging Leadership: Development of leadership skills in problem-solving and leading change
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form.
Basic Negotiations, Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form.
Not Another Scientific Presentation: How to Maximize Your Productivity on Long-Term Writing Projects
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form.
Career Workshop
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Register at aas.org/meetings/aas215/registration.php, by accessing the Workshop Registration Form. Also includes option for mid-December webinar and resume advice at the AAS Job Center during the meeting (slots limited).
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4. SPLINTER MEETINGS
Please remember if you are requesting a splinter meeting you will need to submit a Splinter Meeting Proposal form by 1 December 2009. This form is available at aas.org/meetings/splinter_proposal_form.php. Splinter meetings are reserved on a first come, first served basis.
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5. 2010 CONGRESSIONAL VISITS DAY
The AAS is recruiting volunteers to participate in the annual Congressional Visits Day to be held on April 28-29, 2010. Organized by the Science-Engineering-Technology Working Group, this event brings scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, and technology executives to Washington to raise visibility and support for science, engineering, and technology. More information on the SET CVD is at http://www.setcvd.org/cvd2010/index.html
Please contact Anita Krishnamurthi, the John Bahcall Public Policy Fellow at the AAS, if you are interested in participating.
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6. AAS COMMUNICATION CHANNELS SURVEY
We are attempting to gather data on our various communications channels, particularly our new-media efforts. Please take a moment to participate in the survey and help the AAS!
The survey is available at http://tiny.cc/NT0Uk
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7. HEAD ABSTRACTS DUE 1 DECEMBER 2009
11th Meeting of the High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) of the American Astronomical Society
1-4 March 2010
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
http://www.confcon.com/head2010/
To give a presentation at the HEAD Hawaii meeting a 300 word (or less) abstract must be submitted through the AAS/OASIS website by Tuesday, 1 December 2009.
http://www.confcon.com/head2010/abstract.php
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8. AAS ELECTRONIC VOTING
The AAS conducts online elections. When balloting opens each eligible AAS member with a valid email address on file will receive an emailed request to vote. Voting will be accomplished through the “members-only” area of the AAS website which requires your ID and password. Members for whom we do not have email addresses will receive a paper ballot by first class mail.
Any other member wishing to use a paper ballot may request one by fax to (202) 234-2560 or by email to ballot@aas.org. Please include your member number with your request.
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9. 2010 AAS MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
Renewal season is underway! Please take a moment and renew your membership for 2010 to avoid unnecessary reminders and reduce administrative costs. You can renew and contribute to our programs online at members.aas.org. Please contact Faye Peterson, Manager, Membership Services at peterson@aas.org if you have any questions.
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10. MIAMI MEETING SPECIAL SESSION PROPOSALS, MEETING-IN-A-MEETING PROPOSALS, & ROOM REQUEST DEADLINE
If you would like to propose for a Special Session, Town Hall, Meeting-In-A-Meeting at the 2010 Summer Meeting, proposals and room requests are due 15 December 2009. See http://aas.org/meetings/MeetingContent.html#how for information.
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11. NEW FEATURE IN AAS JOURNALS: AJ COMPILATIONS
Electronic hosting of journals makes it possible to collect related articles into what amounts to virtual special issues. In December 2008, the AJ published several papers from and related to the THINGS project as a special section of that issue. Our electronic compilation brings together those first papers with papers published in later issues (and may include additional papers published in future). Many options are imaginable but to start we have gathered a handful of paper series, each covering a common topic and written by a relatively well-defined set of authors.
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12. REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE DDA'S BROUWER AWARD
Nominations are invited for the 2009-10 Dirk Brouwer Award of the Division on Dynamical Astronomy. Each year since 1976 the DDA has honored the achievements of a major contributor to the field of dynamical astronomy, recognizing the awardee with an honorarium, a certificate, and presentation of an award lecture. Recent recipients include Victor Brumberg, Simon White, Jacques Laskar, James Williams, and Tim de Zeeuw.
The Brouwer Award Selection Committee invites you to suggest candidates for this award.
We seek a wide range of award candidates differing in age, gender, nationality, occupation, field of interest, and scientific and technical contributions. The main criteria, which are not necessarily weighted equally, are (a) excellence in scientific research; (b) impact and influence in the field; (c) excellence in teaching and training of students; (d) outstanding advancement and other support of the field through administration, public service or engineering achievement.
To be considered, a complete nomination should be delivered to the Brouwer Award Selection Committee Chair, Stephen Unwin, <Stephen.C.Unwin@jpl.nasa.gov> by Dec 31, 2009. A candidate's documentation must include a letter of nomination by a member of the AAS or DDA, the curriculum vitae, a list of publications of the nominee, and at least three letters of recommendation, by experts in the field of the nominee, attesting to the long term impact and influence of the nominee's various contributions.
You can find more information on the Brouwer Award, the selection process, and a list of previous award winners at: http://dda.harvard.edu/brouwer_award/. If you have questions about the nomination process, or if you simply what to suggest a name, please contact the Selection Committee Chair, Stephen Unwin<Stephen.C.Unwin@jpl.nasa.gov>. Nominations are due on Dec 31, 2009.
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13. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP ANSWER ASTRONOMICAL INQUIRIES
As the public face of professional astronomy in North America, the AAS receives occasional inquiries from students, teachers, and others interested in celestial news and events. Some can be answered by the AAS administrative staff. Others can be answered only by an astronomer, and those usually end up on my desk. Recent examples include a request to interview an astronomer for a term paper on interesting careers, an invitation to participate in the Flat Stanley project (www.flatstanley.com), and general inquiries about exoplanets, cosmic rays, and solar flares. As part of our Society's mission to educate and inform the public, I try to answer as many of these questions as possible, but sometimes there's not enough of me to go around, so I'm seeking a small number of volunteers to help. If you wouldn't mind letting me forward you an occasional inquiry -- I promise not to take advantage of you! -- please send an e-mail message to rick.fienberg@aas.org. I'd especially like to enlist some grad students and post-docs looking to gain experience in communicating with the public.
Rick Fienberg, AAS Press Officer and Education & Outreach Coordinator
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14. NEW CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS PLANNED FOR CHANDRA DEEP FIELD SOUTH
The Chandra X-ray Center Director's Office and the Chandra Project Scientist are pleased to announce our commitment of 2Ms of Chandra Director's Discretionary Time (DDT) to extend the exposure for the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) from 2Ms to 4Ms.
We intend to use 1Ms of unused DDT from Cycles 9 and 10 and to allocate 500ks not yet committed for Cycle 11 (which begins next month) and 500ks for Cycle 12. This will leave about 200ks for other DDT requests in each of Cycles 11 and 12. The CDFS observations are likely to be scheduled by
allocating 1.2Ms this coming Spring and 0.8Ms in Spring 2011 during Cycle 12. These data will have no associated proprietary rights. We anticipate releasing the new data in 2 segments: one in June/July 2010 and the other in June/July 2011.
The Chandra Call for Proposals for Cycle 12 to be issued on Dec 15 of this year will describe a special category for archival proposals to analyze the full set of new CDFS data. We intend to allocate a total of ~$500K of DDT funding from Cycles 10 and 11 to cover this special opportunity. The use of the budgeted DDT funds assures that this special DDT program will not impact the planned budgets for upcoming General Observer and Archival Research proposals. We intend to use the regular June 2010 Cycle 12 Peer Review to assess the CDFS proposals and to recommend those highest ranked for funding.
Harvey Tananbaum
Martin Weisskopf
Belinda Wilkes
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15. NEXT-GENERATION SUBORBITAL RESEARCHERS CONFERENCE
A new generation of space vehicles capable of economically delivering payloads and researchers is coming on line beginning in 2010. These vehicles will revolutionize space access by providing frequent, low-cost access to space and the capability to carry research and education crew members. They will also carry experiments for technology demonstrations, for scientist in-the-loop research, and for educational/public outreach demonstrations.
Fields including atmospheric science, solar physics, microgravity science, planetary science, space life science, space physics, and education and public outreach (EPO) stand to benefit from these vehicles.
The Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) will be held 18-20 February 2010, at The Millennium Harvest House Boulder, 1345 28th Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302.
NSRC2010 will provide a forum to learn about the research and EPO capabilities of these new systems, their experiments, and EPO integration processes. NSRC2010 will also provide input on vehicle design requirements for science and education. Abstracts are due 12 November.
Go to http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/nsrc2010/nsrc20101st.shtml for more information.
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16. VIKTOR AMBARTSUMIAN PRIZE
The Viktor Ambartsumian Prize is awarded to outstanding scientists having significant contribution in physical-mathematical related sciences from any country and nationality. The Prize totals USD 500,000 and is awarded every other year, starting with 2010.
To apply for the Prize, a work may be presented by an individual or group (not more than three persons). The cash award will be equally shared between the winners, and a diploma, a medal and a certificate will be awarded to each winner.
Visit http://vaprize.sci.am for further information