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5th Annual Earth and Planetary Sciences Student Symposium

The 5th Annual Earth and Planetary Sciences Student Symposium takes place today from 10 AM to 5 PM. There will be two oral sessions and a poster session followed by a Post-Symposium BBQ from 5 til 8 PM.

We are please to host not only students from the UCLA departments of Earth and Space Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, and Atmospheres and Oceanic Science, but also students from Cal State Northridge.

All are welcome for the BBQ. Tickets are priced as follows: $5 undergraduate / $8 graduate / $10 postdocs, staff & faculty. Breakfast and lunch are open to symposium registrants only.

TIME ACTIVITY LOCATION
9am Breakfast Geology 3680
10am Oral Session 1 Slichter 3853
10:05am Junko Isa Slichter 3853
10:20am Carolyn Crow Slichter 3853
10:35am Jennifer Scully Slichter 3853
10:50am Break Slichter 3853
11:05am Dave Jewitt (Keynote Talk) Slichter 3853
11:35am Break Slichter 3853
12pm Lunch Geology 3680
1:30pm Oral Session 2
1:35pm Jeanine Ash Slichter 3853
1:50pm Jozi del Angel Slichter 3853
2:05pm Patrick Boehnke Slichter 3853
2:20pm Beth Ann Bell Slichter 3853
2:35pm Break Slichter 3853
3pm Poster Session Geology 3680
4:30pm Break Geology 3680
5pm Post-Symposium Party Franz-Geology Courtyard
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Space scientist explores mystery of ice on a hot planet

Scientists have long known that certain surface patches on Mercury, the planet first in line from the sun in our solar system, reflect radar signals just like ice does in the polar regions of Earth. To their delight, new data from the orbiting NASA MESSENGER spacecraft confirm the thesis: The radar-bright spots correspond to the darkest parts of the craters at the north and south poles of the planet where it is cold enough to preserve water ice.

Click here to read the full article by Kathleen Micham on UCLA Today

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April 26, 2012: Precise Assemblies, Clusters, Superatoms, and Cluster-Assembled Materials

Speaker:
Paul Weiss
CNSI/UCLA

Abstract:
Precise clusters offer a new set of building blocks with unique properties that can be leveraged both individually and in materials in which their coupling can be controlled by choice of linker, dimensionality, and structure. Initial measurements in both of these worlds have been made. Isolated adsorbed or tethered clusters are probed with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Even closely related elements behave differently on identical substrates. Surprising spectral variations are found for repeated measurements of single isolated, tethered clusters. In periodic solids, precise clusters joined by linkers can be measured experimentally and treated theoretically with excellent agreement, in part due to the relatively weak coupling of the clusters. This coupling can be controlled and exploited to produce materials with tailored properties. Some of the rules of thumb for predicting these properties are being developed through these initial studies and the limit to which they can be applied is being explored.

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Ices and Organics in the Inner Solar System Conference: Call for Abstracts

2nd Announcement and Call for Abstracts

Posted by Michaela Shopland

On June 12th and 13th, the UCLA Institute for Planets and Exoplanets (iPLEX) will host a two day interdisciplinary conference on the nature, distribution, origin and evolution of frozen volatiles and organics in the inner solar system. Topics will include:

• Polar ice and permafrost on planets and asteroids

• Delivery of terrestrial planet atmospheres and oceans

• Water and organics in comets

• Liquid water habitats in the inner solar system

The conference format will include summary talks as well as contributed papers, with time set aside for discussion and questions. Attendance is limited to 60 participants. Final deadline for abstract submission is May 25th.

 

Meeting Logistics

The conference will take place on the UCLA campus. Information regarding meeting location, transportation, and accommodations can be found on the Logistics Page. Guests are advised to book their accommodations early, as hotels are expected to fill up due to the UCLA graduation ceremony occurring the same week.

 

Registration and Abstract Submission

There is a $75 registration fee. Registration is compulsory for all attendees and can be accessed by clicking on the link below. Once you have entered your information, you will be provided with a link to an optional abstract upload page.  Abstracts should be in .pdf format with maximum length of one page.

[button link=”https://commerce.cashnet.com/IPLEX” color=”teal”]Registration[/button]

 

 

Please contact iplex_conferences@ess.ucla.edu if you have questions or comments.

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April 19, 2012: Recent Insights into Planet Formation and Debris Disks

Speaker:
Hilke Schlichting

Abstract:
I will discuss recent insights that we have gained into planet formation and debris disks. In the first half of my talk, I will focus on the Kuiper belt, located at the outskirts of our planetary system, and the formation of debris disks. I will show how studying small km-sized Kuiper belt objects enables us to put our Kuiper belt into context of debris disks around other stars and I will explain how we can use the size distribution of small Kuiper belt objects and debris disks to gain insights into collisional cascades and the material properties of the objects themselves. In the second half, I will review dynamical models and geochemical constraints from the Earth, Moon and Mars and discuss their implications for the last stage of terrestrial planet formation.

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April 5, 2012: The Earliest Aqueous, Habitable(?) Environments on Mars: A View from Orbit

Speaker:
Bethany Ehlmann
Caltech

Abstract:
The emerging picture of Mars’ first billion years includes diverse environments involving liquid water and chemical alteration. Clay, carbonate, chloride, and sulfate minerals have all been detected and mapped from orbit in coherent geologic units. When near-infrared spectroscopic detections of minerals from the orbiting CRISM imaging spectrometer are coupled with high-resolution images of morphology provided by orbiting cameras, distinctive aqueous, potentially habitable, environments can be identified, preserved in the geologic record. I will give a global overview of the most recent findings, delve into the details of transitions recorded in a few key stratigraphic sections, and discuss the hypothesis that the most widespread and long-lived aqueous environments on early Mars were in the subsurface.

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Large UCLA turnout at LPSC 2012

The Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), held March 19–23, 2012 in Woodlands, Texas, was a memorable one. In the face of disheartening news of a proposed 20% cut to NASA’s planetary science budget, it was very encouraging to see a huge turnout from UCLA at this year’s LPSC. Highlights included new results from DAWN at Vesta and Messenger at Mercury, as well as new isotopic studies of extraterestrial samples and theoretical work concerning Enceladus’ plumes.  Not only did we have more than 20-25 people (counting recent graduates) presenting work on topics ranging from Vesta, the Moon, Mars, Earth impacts and the early solar system, but UCLA was also a dominant force in starting the “Young Scientists for Planetary Exploration” movement, which was set up as a means of lobbying congress to restore planetary funding. Here are this year’s UCLA LPSC Abstracts: