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Sarah Morrison
Biography
Professional Title/Position
Center for Exoplanets & Habitable Worlds Postdoctoral Fellow
Degrees and Education
University of Arizona, 2017
Affiliations
Pennsylvania State University
Research Areas, Topics, and Interests
- Planetary system formation & evolution
- Exoplanets
- Debris disks
- Protoplanetary disks
- Orbital dynamics
- Planet-disk interactions
- Influence of orbit environment on planetary surfaces
- Data sciences
- Science education
- Computational astrophysics
Services, Roles, and Activities
- Organizing Committee Member for the Emerging Researchers in Exoplanet Science IV conference, 2017-2018
- University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Laboratory Graduate Outreach Coordinator, 2015-2017
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Conference Organizer, 2012 & 2013
Candidate Statement
I am running for the AAS DDA committee this year to emphasize and expand upon our Division's efforts to make our meetings and profession as accessible and inclusive as possible. I believe that our Division has a responsibility to support all of our members, especially those members of our field from underrepresented groups. If elected to the DDA committee, I would work toward and support efforts that facilitate our members from these groups sharing research and engaging with our field, such as advocating for the continuation and possible expansion of the Duncombe Prize for students.
As the graduate outreach coordinator at the University of Arizona's Lunar Planetary Laboratory, I spearheaded efforts to communicate and engage communities in Tucson and the state of Arizona with the current, ongoing research in the broader field. My tenure as outreach coordinator gave me experience working with a wide range of people in many different settings, developing record keeping for assessing the kind and efficacy of our outreach efforts, and also reminding me to always consider multiple perspectives and implications when making a decision. As an organizer of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory conference and upcoming 2018 Emerging Researchers for Exoplanet Science IV conference, I sought and am seeking to promote collaborations and networking among conference goers; while also lowering the barriers for participating in these conferences and engaging with our field. In addition to being a dynamicist myself, all of these experiences working with both scientific communities and as an interface with the public give me a toolkit to use while serving on the DDA committee, fostering our profession's established and encouraging our emerging newcomers, to improve the inclusiveness in our field and to keep our field active well into the future. I look forward to the opportunity to serve you in our Division with your vote -- thank you!
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David Bartlett
Biography
Professional Title/Position
Emeritus professor of physics
Degrees and Education
Columbia, 1965
Affiliations
University of Colorado, Boulder
Research Areas, Topics, and Interests
- Electromagnetism - particularly the use of a Chibisov's massive photon (with Cumalat's and my value of mass=10-25 electron volts) to bind galaxies into clusters and to accelerate comic rays
- Alternative gravity - Newton's potential replaced by V= - G M/r (Cos[kor]), where ko=2 pi/400 parsecs. to explain flat rotation curves. (In natural units, h-bar = c =1, 2 pi/400 pc = 10^-25 eV)
Services, Roles, and Activities
- None in AAS. I was chair of the APS topical group on precision measurement (1991-1993)
Professional Experience and Positions
- Organized (with John Cumalat) a Meeting-within-a Meeting on topic "Einstein vs Schwinger: Who is right about gravity?", 9 Speakers AAS Summer meeting 2012
- Organized a Special Session on topic "The Oort Cloud: How is it filled? How is it emptied?", speakers: Jack Lissauer, Ned Wright and me, AAS summer meeting 2011
- Member Scientific Advisory Committee for the Gravity-Probe B mission 1998-2011 (20 meetings in Palo Alto)
Candidate Statement
I have been a regular attendee at conferences and value discussions on the mysteries of the solar system. I know many people in the division and would work to expand participation among students at mu university. I know people in the LIGO team and will try to persuade some to come to DDA to talk about how the 3 observatories (LIGO - Washington, LIGO-Louisiana, & VIRGO-Pisa) are exploring the details of the radiation patterns of new events.
I am very excited about my recent study of the 16 brightest objects in the solar system, 8 planets, and 8 dwarf planets. The perihelia of these are not uniformly distributed around the ecliptic.
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Benoît Noyelles
Biography
Professional Title/Position
Research Scientist
Degrees and Education
Paris Observatory, France, 2005
Affiliations
University of Namur, Belgium
Research Areas, Topics, and Interests
- Celestial mechanics
- Numerical simulations
- Natural satellites
- Mercury
- Rotational dynamics
- Orbital dynamics
- Tides
Services, Roles, and Activities
- Nominating Committee Member, 2014-2016
- Nominating Committee Chair, 2016-2017
Professional Experience and Positions
- Symposium Complex Planetary Systems, Namur, Belgium: LOC member
Candidate Statement
I attend DDA meetings almost every year since Halifax 2006. DDA is unique as a small, specialized community, in which dynamicists from planetary and galactic sciences can exchange and share ideas. This is a community of friends as well. As such, DDA meetings have always been very inspiring to me. I have recently served in the Nominating Committee, asking for colleagues whether they would like to become Committee Members. I think it is time for me to take the plunge, this is why I run for the Committee now. If elected, I will encourage early career colleagues, and not exclusively from America, to join the DDA, as I did 12 years ago. This is how we will maintain the excellency of our community.
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Smadar Naoz
Biography
Professional Title/Position
Assistant Professor
Degrees and Education
Tel Aviv University, 2010
Affiliations
University of California, Los Angeles
Research Areas, Topics, and Interests
- Dynamics of planets, stars, and black holes
- Triple to few-body systems
- The galactic center (and other galactic nuclei) dynamics
Services, Roles, and Activities
n/a
Professional Experience and Positions
- The Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCLA, executive committee member, summer 2016 - present
- UCLA Galactic Center leadership committee member, Fall 2014 - present
- Cal-bridge program, Steering committee member (Summer 2015 – Dec. 2016) and a mentor, summer 2015 - present
- Chair of Astro-diversity committee, UCLA, Spring 2016 – present
- Chair of Physics-diversity committee, UCLA, Jan. 2017 – present
- Member of the Physical Sciences Diversity Committee, UCLA, Summer 2016 – present
- UCLA’s Physics and Astronomy department graduate affair and academic affair committees, Sept. 2016 – present
Candidate Statement
My philosophy is that mentoring is critical to the expansion of scientific participance and the inclusion of underrepresented groups. I hope that research and mentoring collaborations will assist in forming an inclusive and educated population beyond the academia.
In UCLA, I am leading a research group consists of graduate and undergraduate students. I am also the grad advisor faculty representative of all the grad students in the Astronomy Division. I am attuned to the needs of the students in our department, paying special attention to underrepresented groups.
Further, I am serving as the chair of two diversity committees in our department, one is for the Astronomy Division, and the other is for the entire Physics Department. There are two committees to address the different needs. Under this role, I have organized various workshops and town halls to address inclusiveness. These include implicit biases, impostor syndrome, mentoring, fix and growth mindsets, handling anxiety in grad school workshops etc. I am leading an effort to build a physics-bridge program in UCLA in collaboration with the American Physics Society. With these committees, we strive to have an inclusive and diverse environment in our department by specifically addressing obstacles that underrepresented groups encounter, and increase awareness to diversity-related issues in our community.
In addition, I am a mentor in the NSF funded Cal-Bridge program (since 2015). The mission of the program is to increase the number of California State University and community college students completing their Bachelor’s degrees and successfully entering a Ph.D. program to study astronomy or a closely related field.
I also work to advance gender equality in the sciences. Studies have shown that young students who meet female scientists, for example via visits by women scientists in the classroom and/or by talking and reading about women’s contribution to science and their careers, are more likely to view the stereotypical scientist as both female and male. I continue to visit public schools in the Los Angeles community, and undergraduate clubs and give talks aimed to shift the paradigm of a “typical” scientist.
Lastly, I will mention that I strive to bring together the research community to push the frontiers of science forward. Thus, I work toward advancing research through meetings and collaborations. For example, in the winter of 2016, I was the PI of the Aspen Center for Physics meeting which hosted 72 people (from 42 institutions and 17 countries) that came together to discuss new ideas about the observational puzzles and theoretical challenges in the Galactic Center. I am also on the department's colloquium committee and leading the UCLA's Galactic Center Group visitor program.
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Gongjie Li
Biography
Professional Title/Position
Assistant Professor
Degrees and Education
Harvard, 2015
Affiliations
Georgia Tech
Research Areas, Topics, and Interests
- Dynamical evolution of planetary systems
- Dynamical interactions between stars and supermassive black holes
Services, Roles, and Activities
n/a
Professional Experience and Positions
n/a
Candidate Statement
The DDA is a small and interactive community, which encourages networking and collaborations. It would be my honor to serve on the committee. I aim to support the open and welcoming atmosphere, to attract outstanding young researchers to the DDA, and to promote diversity.
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Sourav Chatterjee
Biography
Professional Title/Position
Reader
Degrees and Education
Northwestern University, 2010
Affiliations
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India
Research Areas, Topics, and Interests
- Exoplanets
- Dense Star Clusters
- Compact Object Binaries
- Astrophysics of Merging Binary Black Holes
Services, Roles, and Activities
n/a
Professional Experience and Positions
n/a
Candidate Statement
I have worked with students from High School standard to graduate level. These students represent a wide variety of backgrounds including underrepresented minorities giving me some experience in understanding specific needs at different stages of their careers. I also have some experience with public outreach which includes public lectures at the Adler Planetarium, Chicago Astronomical Society, and telescope operator and in floor astronomer at the open house at Dearborn Observatory at Northwestern. My current position in India allows me to host students during summer to share with them the excitement of Astrophysics through teaching and projects. My other goals include introducing advanced astronomy concepts and developments into school and college curricula, in India, this is severely lacking in most schools and colleges.
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Kathryne Daniel
Biography
Professional Title/Position
Assistant Professor
Degrees and Education
Johns Hopkins University, 2015
Affiliations
Bryn Mawr College
Research Areas, Topics, and Interests
- Galactic Dynamics
- Cluster Dynamics
- Galaxy Evolution
- Modeling
Services, Roles, and Activities
- Member - AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (2017-2020)
- Sub-committee: Indigenous Knowing & Scientific Perspectives
- Chambliss Judge for American Astronomical Society (2016-2018)
Professional Experience and Positions
- Member - American Physical Society (APS)
- Member - Society for Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
- Board Member - Bryn Mawr College Honor Board (2017-2020)
- Committee Member - Bryn Mawr College Physics Hiring (2017, 2018)
Candidate Statement
As a DDA committee member, I will grow the field by cultivating collaborations across a wide range astrophysical disciplines that have an impact on or are informed by dynamical processes, like the chemical evolution of an evolving spiral galaxy’s disk or formation mechanisms for 30 Msun BHs. As part of this effort, I will encourage participation from historically underrepresented groups. I have mentored many junior astronomers of color, from multiple disciplines, whose research interests are important for the field of dynamics. I will also use my status as a member of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA) and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Latinx and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) to advertise and encourage participation in the DDA by underrepresented minorities. This growing demographic is increasingly cross disciplinary, offering new opportunities for wide ranging contributions to the field of dynami cs, in both observation and theory. I will also seek out sources of funding to support DDA's equity and inclusion efforts. In addition to these goals, I will advertise DDA activities to the astronomical community as a whole and encourage financial contributions through social media, particularly at the time of annual renewal.
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