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Pages 407-433

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From page 407...
... QUESTION 12: EXOPLANETS 407 Q12.9a Which Among the Necessary Ingredients and Conditions Required by Life on Earth Can Be Inferred or Detected on Exoplanets? All known life requires the presence of liquid water as a solvent in which oxidation and reduction reactions can occur.
From page 408...
... 408 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE Q12.9c What Can We Learn About False Positive and False Negative Detection of Life on Exoplanets from Earth History? Environmental contextual information will be critical to distinguish true biosignatures from abiotic "false positive" mimics.
From page 409...
... QUESTION 12: EXOPLANETS 409 Q12.10 DYNAMIC HABITABILITY The geologic records of Earth, Mars, and Venus show us that planetary habitability is highly variable in space and time. Exoplanet observations soon will offer us the opportunity to address fundamental questions about how a planet's habitability depends on orbital distance, mass, stellar type and other factors.
From page 410...
... 410 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE Q12.10d How Does Atmospheric Chemical Evolution Affect Habitability? Atmospheric chemistry is critical to habitability and the emergence of life.
From page 411...
... QUESTION 12: EXOPLANETS 411 have generated considerable discussion in the literature in recent decades (e.g., McKay et al.
From page 412...
... 412 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE SUPPORTIVE ACTIVITIES FOR QUESTION 12 • Observations of solar system planets and moons through transit spectroscopy and direct-imaging as analogs to exoplanet observations, including hemispherically averaged fluxes as a function of orbital phase and time; observations of particle and gas opacity in the giant planets and Venus as a function of phase angle to help determine the dependence of reflectivity and scattering on particles and clouds in exoplanet atmospheres; and ultraviolet-/near-infrared-scattered light observations from the poles of the giant planets for comparison with future direct imaging of giant exoplanets. • A census of protoplanetary disks, young planets, and mature planetary systems across a wide range of planet–star separations to determine how the initial composition and conditions in a protoplanetary disk influence the diversity of resulting planets.
From page 413...
... QUESTION 12: EXOPLANETS 413 DeMeo, F., and B Carry.
From page 414...
... 414 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE Laneuville, M., C
From page 415...
... QUESTION 12: EXOPLANETS 415 Reinhard, C.T., S.L. Olson, E.W.
From page 416...
... 16 State of the Profession INTRODUCTION The decadal survey's statement of task charged the committee with addressing the state of profession (SoP) , including issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA; see Appendix A)
From page 417...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 417 findings and concludes with a set of recommendations. This chapter begins with research on how unintended bias can impact decisions and a growing recognition of systemic bias embedded in individual minds, communities, and institutions.
From page 418...
... 418 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE that unless bias operating at many different levels is identified and analyzed as a whole, the possibility for change is unlikely in society at large. The analysis reveals built-in systems that undermine life's opportunities and outcomes by racial category in particular, although extensions to the constraints placed by demographic variables such as socioeconomic status, age, disability, immigrant status and nationality, sexuality and gender identity, and religion are all a part of understanding the nature of systems of bias.
From page 419...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 419 needs to be set aside because we now know better based on the science of implicit bias (Jost et al.
From page 420...
... 420 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE TABLE 16-1  Overview of the Datasets on the Planetary Science Workforce Total Number Abbreviation Name of Survey Year of Survey Fields Surveyed Response Rate Sent to (N) Dept-1 2011 Survey of U.S.
From page 421...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 421 In 2011, only 39 universities stated that they had any faculty who identified as planetary scientists, with 105 of the 233 faculty positions located at just six universities. The surveys focused on the previous two academic years: fall 2008 to spring 2010 for the 2011 survey and fall 2016 to spring 2018 for the 2018 survey.
From page 422...
... 422 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE FIGURE 16-1  Gender of planetary scientists from bachelor's degree candidates, PhDs, and tenure-track faculty by major academic institutions. Area of Degree The 2011 survey showed that only 2 percent of planetary scientists received their undergraduate degree in planetary sciences, while 37 percent were in physics, 22 percent in geology and geophysics, 7 percent in chemistry, 8 percent in astronomy and astrophysics, 5 percent in Earth science, 4 percent in biology, and 2 percent in math (AIP 2011)
From page 423...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 423 Employment Relatively few planetary scientists work at NASA centers: 14 percent in 2011, and only 7 percent in 2020. The largest portion of planetary scientists work at a university or college (48 percent in 2011, 41 percent in 2020)
From page 424...
... 424 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE FIGURE 16-2  Representation of men and women, and demographics by race and ethnicity as reported in the 2011 and 2020 planetary science workforce surveys along with the demographics of physical science jobs, all STEM jobs, and all U.S. jobs as reported by a Pew Research Center study.
From page 425...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 425 TABLE 16-2  Demographics of the Planetary Science Workforce by Year of PhD Degree Conferral as Presented in the 2020 AAS-AIP Planetary Science Workforce Study Black, African American Year of Degree or Another Race/Ethnicitya Hispanic/Latinx Asian American White LGBTQ+b 1970 or earlier 5% 0% 3% 92% 4% 1971–1980 3% 0% 5% 92% 4% 1981–1990 3% 3% 4% 90% 2% 1991–2000 4% 2% 11% 83% 6% 2001–2010 4% 5% 10% 81% 6% 2011–2020 5% 6% 17% 72% 12% a Other race/ethnicity included respondents who are Native American/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, or wrote in another race/ethnicity. b LGBTQ+ included respondents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary or another noncisgender identity, and other non heterosexual orientations.
From page 426...
... 426 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE of high-quality data-gathering and reporting is not unique. The state of the profession chapter in the most recent astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey (NASEM 2023)
From page 427...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 427 TABLE 16-3  Demographics of Proposal Submissions by Binary Gender, Race, and Ethnicity Identity 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Combined Woman 22% 25% 23% 26% 24% 27% 28% 25% Gender Man 64% 62% 65% 60% 62% 63% 64% 63% Gender-PNA 15% 13% 12% 15% 13% 10% 8% 13% White 63% 64% 64% 62% 62% 62% 65% 63% Asian American 9% 9% 9% 9% 12% 12% 12% 10% Race-Ethnicity URC 4% 5% 6% 5% 5% 6% 7% 5% Race/Ethnic-PNA 23% 22% 21% 24% 22% 21% 16% 22% Selection of Proposals Figure 16-3 shows the percentage of proposals selected for funding (selection rate) in terms of reported binary gender, race, and ethnicity of proposals submitted to NASA PSD from 2014 to 2020.
From page 428...
... 428 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE FIGURE 16-4  NASA PSD grant selection rate by race and ethnicity between 2014 and 2020 plotted following the framework of Reid (2014)
From page 429...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 429 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS Urgent and Important Need for Evidence About (1) the Size and Identity of PS&AB, (2)
From page 430...
... 430 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE practices, and policies that constitute systemic barriers to scientific progress. This major initiative will require convening meetings consisting of experts in PS&AB as well as behavioral science to identify the specifics behind SoP issues or that hinder scientific progress.
From page 431...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 431 and/or social disasters, which can delay other programs; (2) program officers have high-amplitude, long-duration spikes of effort centered on reviews, which have created workflow challenges; (3)
From page 432...
... 432 ORIGINS, WORLDS, AND LIFE Co-I more frequently than LGBTQ+ respondents. No significant differences were observed in mission proposal participation based on disability.
From page 433...
... STATE OF THE PROFESSION 433 research is produced and evaluated merits attention in any discussion of the SoP. Studies have shown bias in the peer review process and opportunity gaps that may lead to differences in publishing that reflect the role of social rather than scientific factors.

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