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Banner for Women in Astronomy 2009

Women in Astronomy 2009

Panel Discussions

Women in Astronomy and Space Science 2009
Speakers and Panel Members


Wednesday, October 21

Anne Kinney, PhD - Opening Remarks

Dr. Kinney is the Director of the Solar System Exploration Division at the Goddard Space Flight Center, overseeing a division that has designed, built, and launched more instruments to the planets than any other institute on earth, including infrared spectroscopes, mass spectroscopes, X-ray/Gamma ray spectroscopes, magnetometers, and lidars. Previously, Dr. Kinney served as the Director of Astrophysics at NASA HQ, overseeing a suite of Great Observatories including Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Telescope, Spitzer IR Telescope, GLAST, and a host of other missions. Dr. Kinney is an expert in extragalactic astronomy and has published over 80 papers in refereed journals on topics including the characterizing spectra of quasars, blazars, active galaxies and normal galaxies, and signatures of accretion disks in active galaxies. She has demonstrated that accretion disks in the center of active galaxies lie at random angles relative to their host galaxies. More recently she has published on the topic of scientific metrics.

Dr. Kinney received her BS with honors from the University of Wisconsin and her doctorate in Astrophysics from New York University.

Edward J. Weiler, PhD - Keynote Welcome

Dr. Weiler is the Associate Administrator of the NASA Science Mission Directorate. He has also served as Center Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center and as Associate Administrator for NASA's Space Science Enterprise. Under his leadership, the Enterprise had many successes, including the Chandra, NEAR, MAP, FUSE, Spitzer, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Exploration Rover Missions. For over ten years Weiler served as the Chief Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope. Among his many honors, he has been awarded the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal three times, twice the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, and the prestigious Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive.

He received his doctorate in astrophysics from Northwestern University.

Rachel Ivie, PhD - Longitudinal Study Status

Dr. Ivie is the Research Manager with the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics. She specializes in the sociology of gender. She is the co-author of the report, "Women in Physics and Astronomy, 2005". In addition to working on surveys for AIP's Member Societies and other scientific organizations, Rachel also collects data on physics faculty and the academic job market.

She received her PhD in sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Claude R. Canizares, PhD - NRC Study on STEM Faculty

Professor Canizares is the Vice President for Research, Associate Provost, and the Bruno Rossi Professor of Experimental Physics at MIT. Canizares is overseeing the MIT Lincoln Laboratory and serves as the Principal Investigator and Associate Director of NASA's Chandra X-Ray Laboratory. To name a few, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Associated Universities, Inc., the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National research Council and the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Canizares has authored and co-authored over 170 scientific papers.

He received his BA, MA and PhD in Physics from Harvard University.

Catherine Cesarsky, PhD - IAU Study on Statistics

Born in France, Catherine Cesarsky received a degree in Physical Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires and graduated with a PhD in Astronomy in 1971 from Harvard University. She then worked at the California Institute of Technology. In 1974, she moved to France, becoming a staff member of the Service d'Astrophysique (SAp), Direction des Sciences de la Matière (DSM), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA). From 1985 to 1993, she was the Head of SAp, and from 1994 to 1999 she was Director of DSM. From 1999 to 2007, she was Director General of the European Southern Observatory. At present, is High Commissioner for Atomic Energy in France.

From August 2006 to August 2009, she was President of the International Astronomical Union.

Her research activities include studies of the propagation and composition of galactic cosmic rays, and of the acceleration of particles in astrophysical shocks, as well as of the evolution of galaxies, in particular through their infrared emission.

Abigail Stewart, PhD - Addressing Unconscious Bias

Dr. Stewart is the Tangri Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies in LS&A. She has been recently appointed as the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Initiatives in the university's Rackham Graduate School. Prof. Stewart's busy schedule will include continuing her directorship of the ADVANCE program at the university that promotes institutional transformation with respect to women faculty in science and engineering.

Dr. Stewart earned her PhD at Harvard University.

Earnestine Baker - Meyerhoff Scholars Program at UMBC

Mrs. Baker is the Assistant to the Vice President of Institutional Advancement/ Executive Director of the Myerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The program headed by Mrs. Baker was established in 1989. The purpose of the scholarship is to increase diversity among future leaders in science, engineering and related fields. With a delegation of members of Minority Access Inc., Mrs. Baker represented the program at the Central University of Nationalities in Beijing, July 2008. The National Science Foundation and the New York Times have lauded the Myerhoff Scholars Program as a national model. Mrs. Baker has had a distinguished career in education; including teaching Chemistry and being an Adjunct Instructor of the Upward Bound Program (Houston).

Nick White, PhD - Introduction

Dr. White is the Director of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA GSFC, the Director of HEASARC, Chief Scientist of the Beyond Einstein Program, Suzaku Project Scientist, and Constellation-X Project Scientist. Throughout his career, Nick's research interest has been in x-ray astronomy. He was Chief of the Lab for High Energy Astrophysics at and head of the X-ray Astrophysics Branch and of the Office for Guest Investigator Programs, OGIP in the Laboratory for High Energy at NASA, GSFC. Dr. White's achievements can fill volumes. He has authored and co-authored hundreds of scientific articles in both scientific and popular journals.

Nick received his BS from the University of Leicester and his PhD from University College London.

Megan Urry, PhD - Chair, Panel Discussion: How Professional Societies Can Influence Percentages and Retention

Dr. Urry is Professor of Physics at Yale University, Chairman of the Department of Physics, and Director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. She was with the Space Telescope Science Institute for 15 years where she was Astronomer and Head in the Science Program Selection Office. Her current research interests are in multiwavelength surveys, co-evolution of black holes and galaxies, and unification of AGN. Urry is widely published and has given over 65 talks and papers on women in science. She was the Chair of the U.S. Delegation to the First International Meeting on Women in Physics (Paris, 2002). Among many honors and awards, she has been named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and won the NASA/GSFC Productivity Group Award.

Dr. Urry received her BS in physics and mathematics (summa cum laude) from Tufts University and her PhD in physics from Johns Hopkins University.

Debra Elmegreen, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: How Professional Societies Can Influence Percentages and Retention

Dr. Elmegreen is the Maria Mitchell Professor of Astronomy and the Department Chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Vassar College. Dr. Elmegreen has been elected president of the American Astronomical Society. This year she is serving as president-elect and in 2010 she will begin her tenure as president of the society. Her research interests include structure, interactions, and star formation in the galaxies in the local universe and at high redshift.

She received her AB in astrophysics from Princeton University and her AM and PhD in astronomy from Harvard.

James Ulvestad, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: How Professional Societies Can Influence Percentages and Retention

Dr. Ulvestad is the Assistant Director, New Initiatives Office at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Jim Ulvestad has also been VLBA Principal Scientist, and Assistant Director in charge of VLA/VLBA Operations.

Jim's BA is in astronomy (summa cum laude) from the University of Los Angeles. He received both his MS and PhD in astronomy from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Charles Mattias ("Matt") Mountain, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: How Professional Societies Can Influence Percentages and Retention

Dr. Mountain is the Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute that is responsible for the Hubble Space Telescope; the Telescope Scientist for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope - the planned successor to the Hubble. Professor Mountain teaches at Johns Hopkins University and is Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford. Matt has been the director of Gemini, where he was responsible for leading the operations and development program of the Gemini Observatory. He has also been: JWST Telescope Scientist and SWG member (appointed by NASA), US Delegate, OECD Global Science Forum on Large Projects in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Gemini Project Scientist, to just name a few. Dr. Mountain has been awarded the Gabriela Mistral Medal for excellence in education from the Chilean Ministry of education for the Gemini Star Teacher program (the first time this award has been given outside of Chile).

Dr. Mountain received his BS, ARCS and PhD, DIC in physics from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London.

Lee Anne Willson, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: How Professional Societies Can Influence Percentages and Retention

Dr. Willson is professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa State. Her research focuses on the mechanisms and implications of mass loss from stars. She is currently Vice President of the American Astronomical Society. Professor Willson has published numerous papers and is an extremely active member of the scientific community. She has also served as Vice President and President of AAVSO, Councilor of the AAS, and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomic Society. She is also a photographer and creates modular and geometric origami.

Lee Anne received her AB from Harvard University in physics and her PhD in astronomy from the University of Michigan.

Lily McNair, PhD - HBCU Perspectives and Research Programs

Dr. McNair is Associate Provost of Research and Professor of Psychology at Spellman College. McNair's research interests examine the role of alcohol in risky social behaviors. She is widely published, teaches on the Psychology of Women and the Psychology of Disadvantaged and Minority groups on a regular basis. Professor McNair is a member of the Association of Black Psychologists and a mentor for UGA UAP Mentoring Program - to just name a few.

She earned her AB at Princeton University and PhD and MA from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.


Thursday, October 22

Kathie Olsen, PhD - Women in Science and Engineering: Exploring what A-MAZEs Us

Dr. Olsen is the Senior Advisor in the NSF's Office of Information and Resource Management. Prior to this, Dr. Olsen was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of NSF. Olsen has also served as Chief Scientist for NASA. Dr. Olsen's achievements and awards are so many they can fill a volume. Among some of her awards, she has received the Norwegian Royal Order of Merit; NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal, NSF's Director's Award for Excellence; the Barry M. Goldwater Educator Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

She received her BS in biology and psychology from Chatham College and her PhD in neuroscience from the University of California, Irvine.

Mark Sykes, PhD - Preserving our Intellectual Capital: An Institutional Perspective

Dr. Sykes is Director of the Planetary Science Institute. Mark is interested in the origin and evolution of dust in the solar system. He is widely published, including articles in the Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Encyclopedia of the Solar System. Dr. Sykes is also a member of the Dawn Science Team. Dawn will be orbiting two of the three surviving terrestrial protoplanets in the main asteroid belt; Vesta and Ceres. In addition to his many credits, Asteroid #4388 has been named in Mark Sykes' honor! He is also a bass-baritone with the Arizona Opera Chorus and has sung in 59 productions.

Mark received his BA from the University of Oregon in the Department of Physics; Master of Electronic Science from the Department of Applied Physics at the Oregon Graduate Center and his PhD from the University of Arizona in the Department of Planetary Sciences. Dr. Sykes has also received his JD from the University of Arizona.

Colleen Hartman, PhD - Chair, Panel Discussion: To Boldly Go: Paths to Non-Academic Careers

Dr. Hartman is Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs at George Washington University and Senior Advisor for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Over a twenty-nine year career, Dr. Hartman has held a variety of key positions at NASA and NOAA, including Acting Associate Administrator for Science, Program Manager for a variety of Missions including COBE, and assignments at OSTP and Capitol Hill.

Dr. Hartman has a Bachelor's in zoology from Pomona College; a Master's in Public Administration from USC; a Master's and Doctorate in physics from Catholic University.

Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides - Panelist, Panel Discussion: To Boldly Go: Paths to Non-Academic Careers

Ms. Whitesides is a space explorer who was featured in the 3D IMAX movie "Aliens of the Deep". Between degrees she interned at NASA in the astronaut office, worked on the International Space Station, and investigated plant growth on Mars. She is the co-founder of Yuri's Night, the world party for space. She blogs daily about space exploration for Wired Science and is passionate about bringing together people who want to use space to make a difference for the planet.

Ms. Whitesides has a BS in biology from Stanford University and a Master's in the same field from Caltech.

Renetta G. Tull, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: To Boldly Go: Paths to Non-Academic Careers

Dr. Renetta Garrison Tull is the Assistant Dean of Graduate Student Development at the UMBC: An Honors University in Maryland (http://www.umbc.edu) and the Director of PROMISE: Maryland's Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) - http://www.umbc.edu/promise. The PROMISE AGEP includes alliance members: UMBC, the University of Maryland Baltimore, and the University of Maryland College Park.

Dr. Tull presents across the U.S. and Puerto Rico on topics ranging from graduate school recruitment, retention, and dissertation completion, to faculty development. She serves as a national coach and mentor for prospective and current graduate students at universities outside of Maryland through STEM conferences such as GEM, NSBE, SACNAS, SHPE, and AISES. She is a Board Member of the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools.

Dr. Tull earned the B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Howard University, and both the M.S. in Electrical Engineering and the Ph.D. in Speech Science from Northwestern University.

Kathleen Flint, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: To Boldly Go: Paths to Non-Academic Careers

Dr. Flint is the Project Manager at the National Postdoctoral Association, where she manages the NPA's NSF-funded ADVANCE program to foster the transition of women postdocs into faculty positions. She has taught at Stony Brook in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and served as the Assistant Director of the Reinvention Center, a national center focused on enhancing undergraduate education at research universities. In 2004, she spent a year in residence at the NSF where she was a Science and Technology Policy Fellow sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Located in NSF's Office of Polar Programs, she specialized in issues concerning early-career scientists and helped manage one of NSF's newest postdoctoral fellowship programs. She did her postdoctoral work at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and Gemini Observatory North.

Dr. Flint received her BS in astronomy and math from the University of Arizona, and her MS and PhD in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Orlando Figueroa - Panelist, Panel Discussion: To Boldly Go: Paths to Non-Academic Careers

Mr. Figueroa is Director, Applied Engineering and Technology at NASA, GSFC. As the director of engineering he manages the full scope of engineering activities at Goddard. Figueroa was known as the NASA Mars Czar. In 2001 he was appointed Director of the Mars exploration and the Director of the Solar System Division in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters. In this position he had overall responsibility for the robotic exploration of Mars. Mr. Figueroa was also NASA Deputy Chief Engineer for Systems Engineering. Other positions Orlando has held in his 22-year career at Goddard include Head of the Cryogenics Technology Section and manager for the Superfluid helium On Orbit Transfer Shuttle Experiment. His honors include the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and in 1994 he received the Community Stars Award from the Maryland Science Commission for his work and support of innovative education programs between NASA, industry, and Maryland schools.

Figueroa is a Puerto Rican native and is the author of several technical publications. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico. He has also completed multiple advanced studies in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland

Ron Polidan, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: To Boldly Go: Paths to Non-Academic Careers

Dr. Polidan is the Civil Systems Director of Advanced Systems in the Space Systems Division of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. In this capacity he manages Northrop Grumman's Environmental Systems and Space Science and Exploration Business Areas. This includes the Civil Space strategic planning, technology investment strategy, and the development of advanced mission architectures and concepts for NASA and NOAA science business. He has worked for NASA science missions for over 30 years including, Chief Technologist, Assistant Director of Space Sciences for Technology, and Representative to AFRL, Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate and Division Technical Advisor. Since the 1980s he has been a member of a variety of NASA review and advisory panels. Ron is widely published and has received a number of awards, including the NASA Medal for Exceptional service.

Dr. Polidan received his BS in astronomy for the University of Michigan and his MA and PhD in the same discipline from UCLA.

James Lindesay, PhD - Dedication to Dr. Beth Brown

Dr. Lindesay is Professor in the Department of Physics at Howard University. As a graduate student he received Stanford's highest teaching honor, the Gores Award. Lindesay has volunteered for the Peace Corps as a Lecturer in Physics at the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. His research interests include cosmology, theoretical physics, biophysics, and foundations of physics. He has authored and co-authored numerous scientific papers. Many of these publications he co-authored with Beth Brown, to whom he became a mentor and close friend. We are honored to have Dr. James Lindesay dedicate the WIA2009 conference to the memory of Dr. Beth Brown.

Prof. Lindesay has his SB in physics from MIT, MS from Sanford University and he earned his PhD developing the theory for few particle relativistic dynamics working with H. Pierre Noyes at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Paula Rayman, PhD - Generational Issues in the Scientific Workplace

Professor Paula Rayman teaches in the Department of Regional and Social Development at UM, Lowell. She was the founding director of the Radcliffe Public Policy Center at Harvard University. Dr. Rayman is a nationally known scholar who is an economist and sociologist by training. She has extensive publications on work, family, and community issues. She is an expert in the fields of social change, work and inequality, and gender and science. Rayman has been called upon by the White House to participate on committees regarding the workplace and family. Of her book, Beyond the Bottom Line: The Search for Dignity at Work, one reviewer wrote, "it would be wonderful if Beyond the Bottom Line became the Silent Spring of a movement for dignity in the workplace," (Arlene Skolnick,The American Prospect 10/09/01).

Dr. Rayman received her PhD from Boston College.

Elizabeth Freeland, PhD - Re-Entry: Career Breaks in Physics

Dr. Freeland has been an Adjunct Associate Professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has recently taken a post-doctoral position at Washington University in St. Louis. She has served as Guest Scientist (AAUW American Fellowship and APS Blewett Scholarship) at the Fermi National Accelerator Lab. Elizabeth's current research focuses on the calculations of hadron and quark masses. She also specializes in teaching physics to non-scientists. Professor Freeland has been interested in the issues that pertain to women in science since her undergraduate days. Along with her many scientific papers she has authored works on career breaks and was a returning panelist on "Balancing Careers and Family" at the Forward to Professorship in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics workshop in Washington, DC (2004-2008).

Professor Freeland earned her BS in physics and mathematics from Tulane University and her MS and PhD in physics from Johns Hopkins University. Her dissertation topic at JHU focused on nanoscale friction.

Anne Douglass, PhD - Chair, Panel Discussion: Parenthood: The Elephant in the Laboratory

Dr. Anne Douglass is an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She was featured in biographical profiles in the American Chemical Society educational magazine ChemMatters and in A Hand Up: Women Mentoring Women in Science, a publication of the Association for Women in Science. She is mother of five grown children and has five grandchildren. She and two of her daughters (Katherine, a medical doctor and Elizabeth, an oceanographer) contributed essays to Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory. She is an avid tap and ballroom dancer and a yoga enthusiast.

Anne's three degrees are in physics: a BA from Trinity College in 1971, an MS from the University of Minnesota in 1975, and a PhD from Iowa State University in 1981. She was elected Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (1998) and the American Geophysical Union (2007).

Heidi Newberg, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: Parenthood: The Elephant in the Laboratory

Dr. Newberg is Associate Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Over the course of her career she has worked in many areas of astronomy. Newberg earned her PhD with the Berkley Automated Supernova Search and the Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP) for which she shared the Gruber Cosmology Prize. In 2003 she won the Rensselaer Early Career Award. Newberg is also a participant in The Sloan Digital Sky Survey, one of the most important and influential surveys in the history of astronomy. She is the head of Participants in LAMOST, US (PLUS), which is proposing to collaborate with the Chinese LAMOST project to obtain 2.5 million spectra of galactic stars. Dr. Newberg's current research is primarily related to understanding the structure of our own galaxy through using A stars as traces of the galactic halo. Heidi is a prolific publisher of scientific papers, has presented dozens of papers, and has chaired or co-chaired various scientific committees.

Mark Olsen, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: Parenthood: The Elephant in the Laboratory

Mark Olsen is an atmospheric physicist and proud father of two boys aged five and seven. Mark is on the research faculty of the Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and works at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He received his BS in Physics from the University of Northern Iowa in 1993 and his PhD in Physics from Iowa State University in 2000. His research is focused on stratosphere-troposphere interactions, atmospheric constituent transport and trends, and their relationship to climate and climate change. For the past three years, Mark has served on the Board of Directors of the Goddard Child Development Center, an onsite preschool and childcare center. He currently holds the position of Board Secretary.

Dr. Olsen received a BS in physics from the University of Northern Iowa in 1993 and a PhD in physics from Iowa State University in 2000.

Emily Monosson, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: Parenthood: The Elephant in the Laboratory

Dr. Monosson is a toxicologist who received her BS from Union College and her MS and PhD from Cornell University. Monosson is a consultant, teacher, and researcher. She has extensive experience reviewing and synthesizing toxicology and environmental toxicology studies and data on a range of different chemicals. Dr. Monosson is the editor of and a contributor to Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out. The book addresses the challenges faced by female scientists who are balancing career and family or contemplating parenthood. In the June 8, 2008 issue of New Scientist, Alison George wrote in her review of the book; "The writers, who all balance science careers and motherhood, provide a fascinating insight into a world too often kept hidden."

Joyce Winterton, PhD - Building the Next Generation of Astronomers

Joyce Leavitt Winterton, NASA's Assistant Administrator for Education, directs the development and implementation of the agency's education programs. In this role, she leads the agency in inspiring interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as few other organizations can through its unique mission, workforce, facilities, research and innovations. Before coming to NASA, Winterton served as the Director of Education Programs for USA TODAY. During her nine years at USA TODAY, she created innovative cross-curricular educational approaches, including case studies, content development and online collaborations. She was the founder and president of Winterton Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in working on joint projects with business and industry, education, and government. Winterton's previous experience includes serving as the team leader for partner development for the National Future Farmers of America student organization. In 1986, Winterton became the executive director of the National Council on Vocational Technical Education, a Presidential Advisory Council providing recommendations to the President, Congress and the secretary of education. Additionally, Winterton served as the deputy assistant secretary for vocational and adult education in the United States Department of Education and was the first director of the Presidential Academic Fitness Awards program. She also was a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.

She earned her BA and MA in home economics education from Utah State University in Logan. Her doctorate is in teacher education and administration from Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Jarita Holbrook - Film: "Hubble's Diverse Universe"

Dr. Holbrook is Assistant Research Scientist, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona. She is a professor who has taught courses such as the Anthropology of Astronomy, African Philosophical Worlds and Cosmology. Jarita is also a prolific publisher who has recently edited and contributed to African Cultural Astronomy: Current Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy Research in Africa. Holbrook studies "the relationship between humans and the sky. The night sky continues to fascinate people all over the world". Jarita holds numerous honors and awards. To just name a few: she is Vice Chair, Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society, Chair of the Cultural Astronomy Storytelling Working Group (IYA2009), Vice President Société Européenne pour l'Astronomie dans la Culture.

Dr. Holbrook has a BS in Physics from the California Institute of Technology, an MS in Astronomy from San Diego State University and a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Christopher Scolese - Remarks

Chris Scolese is the NASA Associate Administrator. As chief engineer, Scolese is responsible for the overall review and technical readiness of all NASA programs. Formerly, Scolese was the Deputy Director of the GSFC where he assisted the Director, Dr. Ed Weiler, in overseeing all activities. He also served the Deputy Associate Administrator in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters. Chris was also the EOS Program Manager and the Deputy Director of Flight Programs and Projects for Earth Science at the Goddard Space Flight Center. In this position he was responsible for the operation and development of all Earth Science Missions. Prior to his 1987 appointment at Goddard, Scolese's experience included work in industry and government. While a senior analyst at the General Research Corporation of McLean, Va., he participated in several SDIO programs. He was selected by Admiral Hyman Rickover to serve at Naval Reactors where he was associated with the development of instrumentation, instrument systems and multi-processor systems for the U.S. Navy and the DOE while working for NAVSEA. Scolese is the recipient of several honors including the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, Goddard Outstanding Leadership, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) National Capital Section Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year award.


Friday, October 23

Rob Strain - Introduction

Robert Strain is the Center Director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Prior to joining NASA, Strain was the head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Md.

During his tenure as head of the Space Department at APL, Strain oversaw the launch of a number of important scientific satellites including New Horizons, Messenger and STEREO. While at APL, he was also responsible for the national security business area that made many significant contributions to the Department of Defense and other U.S. agencies.

Strain joined APL in 2004 as assistant Space Department head for operations. The following year, he was named associate department head and then became the department's managing executive.

He has more than 25 years of experience in the aerospace business, including executive positions at Orbital Sciences, where he led the company's Satellite and Electronic Sensors Divisions; and Fairchild Space and Defense Company, for which he served as chief financial officer and various other operational roles.

Strain attended college at Western Michigan University and received his bachelor's degree in business administration.

Rep. Donna Edwards, JD - Keynote Address

Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards represents Maryland's 4th Congressional District comprising portions of Prince George's and Montgomery Counties. She was sworn in as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 110th Congress in June 2008, and began her first full-term in the 111th Congress in 2009. Rep. Edwards is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Science and Technology Committee. She also serves on the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

Just prior to serving in Congress, Rep. Edwards was the executive director of the Arca Foundation in Washington, D.C. where she worked on issues such as securing a "living wage" for working people, protecting social security, and promoting labor and human rights both nationally and internationally. She was also the co-founder and executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence where she led the effort to pass The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Rep. Edwards completed undergraduate studies at Wake Forest University and received her Juris Doctor from Franklin Pierce Law Center. She is the proud mother of one son, currently attending university.

Barbara Williams, PhD - Networking Breakfast VIP

Dr. Williams is Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware. A prolific publisher of scientific and instructional papers, Williams has also served as Acting Associate Chair of the same department. She has been a NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center and later held the position of National Research Council Fellow. Barbara was also Research Associate at NRAO. Along with many other honors she was selected at the Outstanding Young Woman of America (1986), was awarded the Student Excellence Award and was a Reynolds Scholar at UNC, Greensboro.

Barbara Williams received her BA in Physics at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, her MS and PhD in Radio Astronomy from the University of Maryland, College Park. We are grateful to Dr. Williams for taking time out of her busy schedule to be a participant at the Friday morning networking breakfast.

Peggy McIntosh, PhD - Unearned Advantage and Disadvantage as Work Impediments

Dr. McIntosh is the Associate Director of the Wellesley College for Research on Women. A world-renowned lecturer, McIntosh is also the author of many influential articles on curriculum change, women's studies and systems of unearned privilege. Her 1988 groundbreaking article "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work on Women's Studies," has been instrumental in adding the concept of privilege to discussions of gender, race, and sexuality. She is also the founder and co-director of the National SEED (Seeking Educational Equality and Diversity) Project on Inclusive Curriculum. Dr. McIntosh has taught English, American Studies, and Women's Studies at the Brearley School, Harvard University, Trinity College, Durham University (UK), and Wellesley College.

Catherine Mavriplis, PhD - Panelist: Research is not Enough: Negotiating all the Rest

Professor Mavriplis is a Research Scientist at the University of Ottowa, the University of Oklahoma, and the NOAA National severe Storms Laboratory. She was a tenured professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the George Washington University where she was also the educational coordinator for PREST - the graduate aerospace engineering GSFC program. Catherine has won the Engineers' Council Professor of the Year Award and twice the NSF Advance Leadership Award.

Dr. Mavriplis received her B.Eng. with honors from McGill University in Canada. She earned her Master's and PhD in aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.

Frances Bagenal, PhD - Panelist: Research is not Enough: Negotiating all the Rest

Professor Bagenal teaches in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Bagenal's research centers on the synthesis of date analysis and theory in the study of space plasmas. She has specialized in the field of magnetospheres. Frances is the co-investigator on the Voyager Plasma Science experiment (PLS). Dr. Bagenal is also a science team member of the Deep Space 1 mission and team leader of the plasma investigations on the New Horizon mission to Pluto and the Juno mission to Jupiter. Bagenal has authored and co-authored many scientific papers. Along with Tim Dowling and Bill McKinnon she co-edited Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites and Magnetosphere (Cambridge Univ. Press 2004).

Dr. Begenal received her BS in physics and geophysics from the University of Lancaster (England) and her PhD from MIT in the field of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Jim Green, PhD - Panelist: Research is not Enough: Negotiating all the Rest

Dr. Green is the Planetary Science Division Director at NASA's headquarters. Jim's major activities in space science research have involved various aspects of the magnetospheres of Earth and Jupiter. He has been involved in verifying the existence of the polar wind, the discovery of nitrogen in the Earth's magnetosphere and finding the first evidence of magnetopause reconnection at very high latitudes. Green is also a co-investigator on the Imager for the Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) mission. In the past Jim Green was a safety diver in the Neutral Buoyancy Tank at MSFC, with over 250 dives, and has headed the National Space Science Data Center at GSFC. He has written over 100 scientific and technical articles.

Dr. Green earned his PhD in Space Physics from Iowa University.

John Mather, PhD - Chair, Panel Discussion: What it takes to become a PI, Project Scientist or Instrument Scientist

Dr. Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He is also the senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space telescope. His research centers on infrared astronomy and cosmology. He is the 2006 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics. With George Smoot (who shared the award with Dr. Mather), they collaborated on understanding the Big Bang theory. Mather and Smoot analyzed data from NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) that studied the pattern of radiation from the first few instants after the universe was formed. Mather and Smooth proved that the Big Bag was not a theory but fact. Dr Mather has published widely, including The Very First Light, with co-author John Boslough, which describes the journey of COBE, one of NASA's most successful scientific projects. The book is now in it's second printing.

Dr. Mather has a BS in astronomy from Swathmore College and his PhD in the same field from the University of California, Berkeley.

Julie Mc Enery, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: What it takes to become a PI, Project Scientist or Instrument Scientist

Julie McEnery is the Fermi Mission Project Scientist and an astrophysicist in the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory, Astrophysics Science Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Since 2009, she is also an Adjunct Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland's College Park campus.

As Fermi Project Scientist, a role she took on in 2009, Julie provides scientific guidance and information to mission staff, working with all elements of the mission - from instrument teams to mission operations. These efforts will maximize scientific return from the observatory. She is involved in all LAT science topics, as well as with team science activities such as low-level simulations, analysis development, and publication planning.

Julie previously served as the Analysis Coordinator on the Large Area Telescope (LAT), Fermi's primary science instrument. In this role, she coordinated the science activities within the LAT instrument team. She was named one of Fermi's deputy project scientists in 2005.

An Irish citizen, Julie received her BS in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Manchester. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from University College Dublin.

Sarah (Sally) Heap, PhD- Panelist, Panel Discussion: What it takes to become a PI, Project Scientist or Instrument Scientist

Sally Heap has been an astronomer at the Goddard Space Flight Center since 1969. She has worked in developing and using astronomical instrumentation for rockets and space observatories, most notably the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), and the Hubble Space Telescope. She also served as telescope scientist for the Terrestrial Planet Finder - Coronagraph studied by NASA. Currently, she is a co-Investigator on the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) team and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on Hubble. Her research interests include stars and galaxies as revealed by their spectra, and habitable planets and planets with life.

Dr. Heap received her AB from Wellesley College, and her PhD from UCLA.

Jean Swank, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: What it takes to become a PI, Project Scientist or Instrument Scientist

Dr. Swank is an astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center. She received her PhD in Theoretical Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1967. After several years of teaching, she came to Goddard Space Flight Center, where she has worked for the past 34 years. She has used X-ray data from many missions. Since 1990, she has been the Principal Investigator for the Proportional Counter Array experiment on the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) mission, and is also the Project Scientist for RXTE. She is the Principal Investigator for the Small Explorer mission Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer (GEMS), which was selected this year to be developed for a launch in 2014. With RXTE and GEMS her research is concentrating on galactic compact objects, black holes and neutron stars. She is interested in combining timing, spectroscopy and polarization measurements to understand the relation between the astrophysical objects and fundamental physics.

Joanne Hill, PhD - Panelist, Panel Discussion: What it takes to become a PI, Project Scientist or Instrument Scientist

Dr. Joanne (Joe) Hill is senior scientist at the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) working in the Astrophysics Science Directorate at the Goddard Space Flight Center. She is the Principal Investigator for the development of a wide field of view gamma-ray burst polarimeter and also serves as the polarimeter system scientist for the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX. In these roles she co- ordinates the engineers that are designing and building the instruments. She ensures that the design will be able to achieve the scientific goals and tests the instrument performance in the lab and at Government facilities.

Before moving to work at GSFC, Joe was at Penn State University, serving as the instrument scientist for the Swift X-ray Telescope. She helped to design build and test the instrument as part of an international collaboration.

Joe received a BS in Physics Space Science and Technology and a PhD in Physics and Astronomy and the University of Leicester in the UK.

Mark Goldman - How to be a Mentor

Mr. Goldman is a Senior Human resource Development Specialist in the Talent Cultivation Office at NASA/GSFC. He is responsible for curriculum development and managed the center's Mentoring Program for several years, including the pilot program. Over the last five years he has mentored several Goddard employees. Mark is sometimes called upon to assist in the curriculum development for APPEL and other NASA centers. Prior to NASA he has worked in various capacities in education, and training in the financial and health services. Mark has presented at several conferences regarding curriculum development and mentoring. He is a certified DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) facilitator.

Keivan Stassun, PhD - Leveraging Partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions

Dr. Keivan Stassun is Associate Professor of Astronomy at Vanderbilt University. Between his busy schedule of teaching, research, and publishing, Keivan has found time to be Co-Director of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge and Co-Director of the Fisk Astronomy and Space Science Training programs. He has also chaired the AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy.

Dr. Stassun received his AB in physics and astronomy with honors from the University of California, Berkley and his PhD in astronomy from the University of Wisconsin.

Laurie Leshin, PhD - Networking Breakfast VIP, Introducer

Dr. Leshin is the Deputy Director of science and Technology at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She is a cosmochemist with an interest in deciphering the record of water in objects in our solar system. Laurie is also a member of two science teams on the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory mission. Before NASA, Dr. Leshin was The Dee and John Whitman Distinguished Professor of Geological Sciences at Arizona State University, Tempe.

Laurie Leshin received her BS in chemistry at Arizona State University and her PhD from the California Institute of Technology.

Amy Simon-Miller, PhD - Closing Remarks

Dr. Simon-Miller is the Chief of the Planetary Systems Lab at NASA.s Goddard Space Flight Center. She studies atmospheric structure and dynamics of the giant planets of our Solar System and is a co-investigator on the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer. Dr. Simon-Miller was a member of the AAS Committee on the Status of Women for 6 years and was an organizer of the Women in Astronomy II conference held in Pasadena in 2003.

Dr. Simon-Miller received her BS in Space Sciences from the Florida Institute of Technology and her PhD in Astronomy from New Mexico State University.