topLaurie A. Leshin—PresIdent–Elect, Planetary Sciences
Christophe Sotin—President–Elect, Planetary Sciences
Stephen W. Bougher—Secretary, Planetary Sciences
W. Bruce Banerdt—Secretary, Planetary Sciences
Laurie A. Leshin—President–Elect, Planetary Sciences
AGU member since 1989. Director of Sciences and Exploration, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Scientific interests include the volatile inventories and geochemical evolution of Mars and Earth; early solar system processes as recorded by primitive meteorites; prebiotic chemistry and water-rock interaction on asteroids; light element isotopic analysis using the ion microprobe; robotic and human exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Ph.D. in geochemistry from California Institute of Technology, 1994; University of California Presidential Postdoc, Rubey Faculty Fellow at University of California, Los Angeles, 1994–1998; Dee and John Whiteman Dean’s Distinguished Professor and director of the Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University, 1998–2005, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 2005 to present. Member of AGU, Meteoritical Society. Authored 38 peer-reviewed publications, three in AGU journals. Received NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal (2004), Meteoritical Society’s Nier Prize (1996), and asteroid named 4922 Leshin (2001). Served on the President’s Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy, Solar System Exploration Subcommittee, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director’s Council, the Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials (CAPTEM), and several mission science definition teams. AGU service as Planetary Sciences secretary (1998–2000), Fall Meeting chair for Planetary Science, 1998, 1999.
Statement: As we embark on the second 50 years of space exploration, now is a particularly exciting time in planetary science. We have transitioned from reconnaissance of solar system objects to their in-depth study, and as such we need to engage even more meaningfully with Earth scientists and their tools for exploring the physics, chemistry, and biology of our home planet. Heliophysics is also critical to exploring planetary evolution, and as such, we must engage space physicists in our quest to understand planetary objects from core to exosphere. I believe that AGU provides the best forum for planetary scientists to engage in these transdisciplinary endeavors. If elected, I will seek to foster new levels of collaboration across disciplines through striving to make every session at our meetings joint with another section, and through providing opportunities to socialize with different sections. The next few years are also critical as the Vision for Space Exploration takes its first visible steps and future human exploration missions become better defined. If elected, I pledge to use AGU meetings to provide an inclusive forum for discussion of the science that can be achieved through future human exploration, engaging key leaders from federal agencies and the science community to participate in these and other programmatic discussions. Finally, I will work to ensure that we drive toward ever increasing student and public engagement in planetary science by communicating our exciting results through the media and enhanced participation in educational activities, including special student events at our meetings.
Christophe Sotin—President–Elect, Planetary Sciences
AGU member since 1987. Research scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory since August 2007. Scientific interests in the evolution and the internal structure and dynamics of the Earth, Mars, Venus, and the icy moons of the giant planets. Ph.D. in geophysics from Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 1983. Thèse d'Etat in Earth science from University of Paris 7, 1986; postdoc at Brown University, 1986–1988; full professor of geological sciences at University Paris-Orsay, 1988–1992; full professor of geological sciences and director of Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique at University of Nantes, 1992 to August 2007. Member of AGU, EGU. Organizer of several conferences and workshops, guest editor for special issues of Planetary and Space Science; chair of the Solar System Working Group of the French space agency (CNES), 1996–2000; member of the Science Advisory Committee at CNES since 2000, member of several science committees at the French national science foundation (CNRS). Authored 90 publications, 10 in AGU journals, including a study of convection processes beneath spreading centers (GRL, 1989), icy hot spots at Europa (GRL, 2002), cryo-volcanism on Titan (Nature, 2005), the mass-radius curve for extrasolar Earth-like planets (Icarus, 2007). Member of Institut Universitaire de France, 1996–2001; member of the International Academy of Astronautics since 2005; member of Academia Europaea since 2001. AGU service as member of the editor selection board.
Statement: Exploration of the solar system has never been so diverse and so international. Scientists involved in planetary sciences throughout the world are actively participating in a great period of exploration punctuated by the ongoing findings of the rovers and orbiters at Mars, the discoveries of the Cassini-Huygens mission, the results of Venus Express, and the discovery of planets around nearby stars. We await with anticipation the arrival of missions that have already been launched, and we anguish over the mission trade-offs necessary for missions still in development. The discoveries we are now making very often challenge the ideas that we had about the evolution of planetary bodies, their diversity, and the possibility for other worlds to sustain life. We have been using our knowledge of the Earth to interpret data from other planets and satellites. It may be the time where the information we get from other planets will tell us more about the evolution of the Earth. AGU is unique because it is a platform where international communities involved in Earth science and planetary science can interact. While maintaining the high value of AGU meetings and journals, my goals as president-elect and then as president of the section will be (1) to reinforce interdisciplinary cooperation and international collaboration; (2) to work with program scientists of different space agencies to make AGU meetings a platform of exchange where results of missions from different countries are discussed; and (3) to work with managers of national science programs to make sure that the necessary laboratory experiments and modeling effort are supported in order to interpret the data returned by these outstanding missions.
Stephen W. Bougher—Secretary, Planetary Sciences
AGU member since 1980. Research professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Principal research interests include upper atmospheric physics (energetics, chemistry, and dynamics), comparative study of planetary thermosphere and ionosphere processes throughout the solar system, global modeling of dynamical/thermal processes linking the Venus, Earth, and Mars lower and upper atmospheres, and Mars aerobraking science. Ph.D. in planetary aeronomy, University of Michigan, 1985; M.S., astrogeophysics, University of Colorado, 1980; B.A., physics, Northwestern University, 1977. Conducted planetary aeronomy research and mentored students at Michigan as a senior research scientist and research professor since 2002; assistant/associate research scientist and research associate at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona from 1986 to 2002; postdoctoral fellow at NCAR from 1984 to 1986. Active member of AGU, COSPAR, the DPS, and MEPAG. Served as vice chair of COSPAR Sub-Commission C3 since 2002. Published approximately 68 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 35 in AGU journals, and served as lead editor for the book Venus II: Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment. Most important papers deal with applications of thermospheric general circulation model (TGCM) simulations that interpret spacecraft and ground-based data sets (e.g., Venus, Mars, Jupiter) and investigate upper atmospheric processes and variability. Received NASA Group Achievement Awards in 1999 and 2007 for MGS and MRO aerobraking team activities. Received the Michigan OVPR Outstanding Research Achievement Award in 2004 for Mars mission participation. Chaired special sessions at several AGU meetings since 1987.
W. Bruce Banerdt—Secretary, Planetary Sciences
Bruce Banerdt is a planetary geophysicist who has been working at Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1977. He earned a B.S. in physics (1975) and a Ph.D. in geophysics (1983) at the University of Southern California, and spent 2 years in between studying at Pennsylvania State University. He has been selected for the science team of a number of planetary missions, including Mars Observer and Mars Global Surveyor (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, MOLA), Magellan (Radar Science Team), and Rosetta (SESAME Acoustic Sounder), and was principal investigator for the U.S. instruments on the NetLander mission to Mars, which was unfortunately cancelled before launch. He is currently the project scientist for the Mars Exploration Rovers. He has served on several National Academy of Sciences panels on space science, and is currently a member of the Committee for Planetary Exploration (COMPLEX) and the National Research Council panel advising NASA on Scientific Priorities for the Exploration of the Moon. Banerdt’s research interests are the geologic history of Mars and the geophysical investigation of the interiors of the terrestrial planets using analyses of gravity, magnetic, topography, and seismic data.