| School of Earth and Space Exploration

Privilege, Power and Leadership in Academia

As the diversity of people in higher education grows, Universities are struggling to provide inclusive environments that nurture the spirit of free inquiry in the presence of these differences. Throughout my career as an astronomer, from graduate student, through professor to department chair, I have witnessed these struggles firsthand. Exclusive cultures result in lost opportunities in the form of unfulfilled potential of all members of the institution --- students, administrators and faculty alike.

Read more about Kathryn Johnston Colloquium Abstract (Feb 26, 2020)

New Frontiers in Terahertz Technology

Although unique potentials of terahertz waves for chemical identification, material characterization, biological sensing, and medical imaging have been recognized for quite a while, the relatively poor performance, higher costs, and bulky nature of current terahertz systems continue to impede their deployment in field settings.

Read more about Mona Jarrahi Colloquium Abstract (April 29, 2020)

Core formation on Earth and Mars

The terrestrial planets accreted in a series of increasingly large and violent impacts, which caused large-scale melting of the mantle. This allowed the core to segregate during accretion, undergoing high pressure, high temperature metal–silicate partitioning reactions that set the modern-day compositions of the core and mantle.

Read more about Rebecca A. Fischer Colloquium Abstract (April 8, 2020)

How do galaxies like the Milky Way grow?

Galaxy growth is a slow but continuous process. The Milky Way is constantly accreting matter and forming stars. While the properties of the galaxy support accretion, direct observational evidence indicating gas flows is not conclusive. The need of the hour to measure the properties of the edge of the galaxy disks - interface region that connect the centers of galaxies to the rest of the Universe.

Read more about Sanchyeeta Borthakur Colloquium Abstract (March 25, 2020)

Accessing an Alien Ocean: the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS)

Plumbing the depths of the Enceladus and possibly Europa plume vents for liquid water, searching for extant life. Descending crevasses in ice sheets on Earth to discover the fate of melt water runoff and its effects for Earth science. The Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor or EELS robot architecture is designed to carry the latest instruments into these dynamic arenas in search of life. It is adaptable to traverse ocean world inspired terrain, fluidized media, enclosed labyrinthian environments and liquids.

Read more about Kalind Carpenter Colloquium Abstract (March 4, 2020)

Welcome to the Milky Way! Gaia, the Galaxy and Me.

The Milky Way was thought to be dynamically young with a fairly smooth potential dominated by a nearly spherical dark matter halo that has evolved little in the last several billion years. This talk outlines our evolving view of our home galaxy, inspired by the ever-growing catalogues that have mapped it - from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to the Gaia mission.

Read more about Kathryn Johnston Colloquium Abstract (Feb 26, 2020)

Near-Earth Asteroids and Comets: Opportunity and Risk

The asteroids and comets circling our Sun mostly remain in their orbits for billions of years, serving as reminders of conditions in the primordial solar nebula. However, some are occasionally perturbed out of these stable orbits and into Earth-crossing trajectories. The question of when the next major impact will occur can only be answered by surveying the skies to find, track, and characterize these objects.

Read more about Amy Mainzer Colloquium Abstract (Feb 12, 2020)

The Space Force: From Rhetoric To Reality

In his remarks at a meeting of the National Space Council on June 18, 2018, President Trump directed “the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces,” that is separate and equal to the other branches.

Read more about Timiebi Aganaba Colloquium Abstract (Feb 5, 2020)

World of Fire (and Ice): Exploring Jupiter’s moon Io

The astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered Io and the other planet-sized moons of Jupiter in January of 1610, setting off the modern age of planetary exploration. Io is one of the most unique and remarkable worlds of our Solar System, and is a natural laboratory to study tidal heating of planetary interiors. In my talk we will discuss insights learned from telescopic and spacecraft exploration, especially the NASA Voyager and Galileo missions (the latter of which I was a part). The Galileo mission results raised

Read more about David Williams Colloquium Abstract (Jan 29, 2020)

There and Back Again: An oceanographer’s tale about ocean worlds here and beyond

Oceanography came to fruition in the 19th century, when scientists set out to survey the ocean -from surface to seafloor- and determine if and where life existed in the deep sea.

Read more about Peter Girguis Colloquium Abstract (April 1, 2020)