4
Workshops, Symposia, Meetings of Experts,
and Other Special Projects
In 2015, the Space Studies Board (SSB) held one forum and one meeting of experts. These activities do not result in the provision of advice and, therefore, are not governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Section 15.
CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES-NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES FORUM FOR NEW LEADERS IN SPACE SCIENCE
The SSB continued its engagement with space scientists affiliated with the National Space Science Center (NSSC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and other Chinese institutions by holding a “Forum for New Leaders in Space Science.” The forum series is designed to provide opportunities for a highly select group of young space scientists from China and the United States to discuss their research activities in an intimate and collegial environment at meetings held in China and the United States.
The goals of the forum are threefold:
- To identify and highlight the research achievements of the best and brightest young scientists currently working at the frontiers of their respective disciplines;
- To build informal bridges between the space-science communities in China and the United States; and
- To enhance the diffusion of insights gained from participation in the forums to the larger space-science communities in China and the United States.
Following the successful completion of the first forum in Beijing and Irvine, California, in May and November of 2014, respectively, planning for the second forum began. The first session of the second forum took place in Shanghai, China, on October 9-10, 2015, and the second session will be held in Irvine, California, on May 16-17, 2016. Funding has been sought from the Academies Presidents’ Committee to continue the forums in 2016-2017.
New Leaders in Space Science—Third Forum
Michael Busch, SETI Institute
Abigail Fraeman, California Institute of Technology
Rebecca Greenberger, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Wenbiao Han, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jun Huang, China University of Geosciences, China
Edwin Kite, University of Chicago
Han Li, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hao Liu, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Orenthal J. Tucker, University of Michigan
Meng Su, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ying Sun, University of Texas
Xiaobin Yin, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jindong Wang, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ryan Clegg-Watkins, Washington University
Tianjie Zhao, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qin Zhou, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Senior Participants—Third Forum
Philip Christensen, Arizona State University
Chengli Huang, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
Byron Tapley, University of Texas
Feng Tian, Tsingua University, China
Jiancheng Shi, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ji Wu, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peng Zhang, National Satellite Meteorological Center, China Meteorological Administration
Staff
David Smith, Senior Program Officer, SSB
Anesia Wilks, Senior Program Assistant, SSB
SHARING THE ADVENTURE WITH THE STUDENT: EXPLORING THE INTERSECTIONS OF NASA SPACE SCIENCE AND EDUCATION: A WORKSHOP
The SSB and the Board on Science Education released a workshop summary in June 2015 entitled Sharing the Adventure with the Student: Exploring the Intersections of NASA Space Science and Education: A Workshop Summary. The workshop itself took place on December 2-3, 2014, at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C., and focused on the contribution of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate to K-12 science education. The workshop served as a venue for dialog between space and Earth scientists, engineers, education specialists ranging from high school principals to education researchers and state STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education leaders, professional development providers, and informal science education institutions, among others. The Introduction and Background of the summary is reprinted in Chapter 5.
Planning Committee Membership1
Philip R. Christensen, Arizona State University (co-chair)
Brett D. Moulding, Utah Partnership for Effective Science Teaching and Learning (co-chair)
Albert Byers, National Science Teachers Association
Heidi B. Hammel, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
Wesley L. Harris, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charles F. Kennel, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
James Manning, Independent Consultant
Richard A. McCray, University of California, Berkeley
Mitchell Nathan, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Patricia H. Reiff, Rice University
Theresa Schwerin, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
___________________
1 All terms expired on June 30, 2015.
Staff
Abigail Sheffer, Program Officer, SSB
Katie Daud, Research Associate, SSB
Anesia Wilks, Senior Program Assistant, SSB
Heidi A. Schweingruber, Director, Board on Science Education
Michael A. Feder, Senior Program Officer, Board on Science Education
TERRESTRIAL ORGANIC CONTAMINATION REQUIREMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH MARS SAMPLE CACHING AND RETURN FOR PLANETARY PROTECTION: A MEETING OF EXPERTS
As a result of a request from NASA’s planetary protection officer in 2014, SSB’s staff organized a series of meetings of selected experts and government officials to provide the former with a candid critique of the findings relating to the contamination of martian samples by terrestrial organic materials contained in an interim report prepared by the Mars 2020 Organic Contamination Panel (OCP). The OCP was established by NASA’s Mars Program Office to assess the potential contamination of samples collected on Mars with organic material inadvertently introduced into the martian environment by the Mars 2020 rover mission. The first such meeting was held at the Beckman Center in Irvine, California, on May 28-29, 2014, and the second was held at the J. Erik Jonsson Conference Center of the National Academy of Sciences in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on May 11-13, 2015. In both meetings, the members of the SSB-convened group were acting in their own capacities as experts in relevant scientific and technical disciplines, and no NRC-endorsed product resulted from either meeting. A continuation of the meetings in 2016 is not anticipated at this time.
Staff
David Smith, Senior Program Officer, SSB
Carmela J. Chamberlain, Administrative Coordinator, SSB
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