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AGU Elections: Candidates for 2010–2012 Union Officers, Board of Directors and Sections Officers
Candidates for Planetary Sciences
William B. McKinnon—PresIdent–Elect, Planetary Sciences
Robin M. Canup—President–elect, Planetary Sciences
Linda T. Elkins-Tanton—Secretary, Planetary Sciences
Adam P. Showman—Secretary, Planetary Sciences
Section Officer Roles and Responsibilities
Biographies and Statements
William B. McKinnon—President–elect, Planetary Sciences
Major scientific interests are in the structure, origin, evolution, geology, and bombardment history of outer planet satellites and dwarf planets; and impact mechanics on rocky and icy bodies. Ph.D., 1981, and M.S., 1979, planetary science and geophysics, from California Institute of Technology; S.B., Earth and planetary sciences, 1976, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research associate and senior research associate at Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1980–1982; faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis since 1982. Member of AGU; Division for Planetary Sciences of the AAS; Meteoritical Society; International Astronomical Union. DPS chair, 2004–2005; fellow of the AAAS. Authored 73 peer-reviewed publications, 15 in AGU journals, including mechanics of multiringed basin formation, origin of Pluto-Charon and Triton, crustal spreading and convection on Europa, mountain formation on Io. Coeditor of Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites, and Magnetosphere, and Europa (upcoming). Editor's Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for JGR, 1988; for Icarus, 1997; two NASA Group Achievement Awards. AGU service as Eos planetology editor (1985–1987); associate editor for JGR (1990–1992), JGR-Planets (1991–1994); search committee for JGR-Planets editor (1998); Macelwane Medal sub-committee (2 years); AGU student paper judge (3 years); co-organizer of special sessions at AGU meetings.
Statement: The AGU Planetary Sciences section is uniquely qualified to confront one the gravest challenges facing the world today: the threat of global climate change. I view a principal role of the section (and greater AGU) to be to explain clearly how atmospheres in our solar system actually work, and where the real dangers to life on Earth as we know it lie, and effectively communicate all of this to the public, fellow scientists, and policy makers. Planetary exploration itself, of course, from roving Mars to exploring far distant worlds, is an extraordinary act of faith in the human future and evidence that we can ultimately solve our most vexing problems. As such, communication of new and exciting mission discoveries and research, and their intrinsic value to human welfare, remains an important task for the section. With respect to the section itself, the AGU Fall Meeting is now one of the premier planetary conferences of any given year. My goal will be to continue to better integrate planetary sessions with those of our sister sections, because it is the phenomenal cross-disciplinary fertilization that makes AGU meetings so unique and valuable. Finally, it is important to boost the impact of Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets in our field and to enhance Geophysical Research Letters as a platform for planetary publication.
Robin M. Canup—President–elect, Planetary Sciences
Scientific interests include satellite and planet formation, hydrodynamical models of planet-scale collisions, orbital and thermal evolution of satellites, retention of water during accretion, and planetary ring origin and dynamics. Ph.D., 1995, astrophysical and planetary sciences, University of Colorado; B.S., 1990, physics, Duke University. Research associate, University of Colorado (1995–1998); senior research scientist, SwRI (1998–2000); assistant director, SwRI (1999–2005); director, SwRI (2005–2007); executive director, SwRI (2007–2009). Member of the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) and the Division on Dynamical Astronmy (DDA) of the American Astronomical Society. Author of 25 peer-reviewed publications, including those on the Moon's origin via giant impact (Nature, 2001; Icarus, 2004) and the conditions of formation of the Galilean and Saturnian satellites (Astronomical Journal, 2002; Nature, 2006). Recipient of DPS Urey Prize (2003), AGU Macelwane Medal (2004), AGU Fellow (2004), Asteroid 17836 Canup (2005). Member of Solar System Exploration Roadmap Committee (2004), Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter Science Definition Team (2005), DDA Brouwer Award Committee (2004–2006), Icarus editorial board (2004–2006), DPS Prize Committee (2007–2008), Planetary Subcommittee of NASA Advisory Council (2006–2009). AGU service as Hess Medal Committee member (2009–2011), Fall Meeting Planetary session convener.
Statement: It is an extremely exciting time for planetary sciences. We are fortunate to have had an increasing number of spacecraft missions that are allowing for unprecedented observations of bodies throughout the solar system. These new data provide tremendous opportunities for interdisciplinary model development, as well as for comparative planetology. If elected, I will seek to capitalize on these developments through topically focused special sessions at AGU meetings that bring together researchers using a variety of approaches (geological, geophysical, geochemical, dynamical, etc.) to address current problems in the origin and evolution of the planets, satellites, and ring systems. I will also strive to foster continued discussion—both among scientists and between scientists and policy makers—on how best to maximize the scientific return from NASA's exploration initiatives such as the return to the Moon. Finally, the study of exoplanets is expanding rapidly as detection techniques improve and complementary techniques allow for increased understanding of the physical and orbital properties of individual planets. If elected, I will work to increase the involvement of exoplanet researchers in AGU meetings, with a particular focus on comparative studies between exoplanets and the planets in our own system.
Linda T. Elkins-Tanton—Secretary, Planetary Sciences
Principal research interests include planetary formation and early evolution, and volcanism on continents or one-plate planets. Ph.D. in geology and geophysics, MIT, 2002; S.M. in geochemistry, MIT, 1987; S.B. in geology, MIT, 1987. Assistant professor at MIT since 2007; senior research associate and postdoctoral research associate at Brown University, 2002–2007; lecturer in mathematics at St. Mary's College of Maryland, 1995–1997; business consultant previously. Member, AGU, GSA, Meteoritical Society, Sigma Xi, American Astronomical Society; National Fellow, Explorer's Club. Published 35 papers in peer-reviewed journals, eight in AGU journals, and published the six-volume reference series The Solar System for high-school and college libraries, now in its second edition. Most important papers are on the links between planetary formation processes and mantle and atmospheric composition, planetary volcanic processes, and differentiation in planetesimals. Honors: Mitsui Career Development Chair, National Science Foundation Kavli Fellow U.S. and U.S.-France, NSF CAREER award, outstanding MIT faculty undergraduate research mentor award, 2008–2009.
Adam P. Showman—Secretary, Planetary Sciences
Research interests span a broad range of problems in planetary atmospheres and interiors. Specific current research topics emphasize the formation of jet streams, cloud bands, and vortices on the giant planets; the atmospheric circulation of extrasolar planets, including both gas giants and solid bodies; and the tectonics, internal evolution, and orbital dynamics of moons in the outer solar system, including Europa, Ganymede, Titan, and Enceladus. Ph.D. and M.S. in planetary sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1999; postdoctoral scholar, University of Louisville, 1999; National Research Council postdoctoral associate, NASA Ames Research Center, 1999–2001; professor, University of Arizona, 2001 to present. Member of AGU and American Astronomical Society (AAS). Authored 51 publications, five in AGU journals. Served on AAS Division of Planetary Sciences committee, 2006–2009; NASA Research and Analysis Management Operations Working Group (MOWG), 2008; Science Definition Team (SDT) for NASA's Jupiter System Observer mission study, 2007; SDT for NASA's Europa Orbiter mission study, 2008–2009.