Table of Contents ====================================================================== 1. Announcement of New Heliophysics Director 2. Request for GEM Community Input to the NSF EarthCube Initiative 3. 2011 AGU Planetary Science/Space Physics Career Night Mixer ====================================================================== *************************** ** THE GEM MESSENGER ** *************************** Volume 21, Number 25 October 5, 2011 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Announcement of New Heliophysics Director ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jennifer Rumburg Dr. Barbara Giles has accepted the position of Director for NASA's Science Mission Directorate Heliophysics Division. Her appointment to this position is effective as of September 30, 2011. Dr. Giles earned her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1993 and joined Marshall Space Flight Center where she was part of a team that built suborbital and spaceflight heliophysics instrumentation. Her research interests focused on the Earth's magnetosphere with emphasis on the ionosphere's contribution to magnetospheric dynamics. In 1998, Dr. Giles transferred to the Goddard Space Flight Center to pursue new flight mission opportunities. She stepped into the role of Deputy Project Scientist, and was promoted later to Project Scientist for the Polar and Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) missions. In 2004, Dr. Giles came to NASA Headquarters as the Program Scientist for RBSP and led the science procurement for that mission. She is now the Program Scientist for the Solar Terrestrial Probes Program (STP) and managed the procurement for the next Explorer Program missions. As the Heliophysics strategic planning lead at headquarters, she has charted the Division's course for the future by planning new missions to study the Sun, its effects on the Earth's space environment, and its influences out to the far reaches of the heliosphere. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Request for GEM Community Input to the NSF EarthCube Initiative ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Joseph Baker The purpose of this notice is to draw attention to an initiative at NSF called "EarthCube" which is a new partnership between the Geosciences Directorate and the Office of Cyberinfrastructure. The stated goal of EarthCube is to transform the conduct of research by supporting the development of community-guided cyberinfrastructure to integrate data and information for knowledge management across the Geosciences. The initiative was announced in June and quickly followed by two webinars in July and August during which the broad vision for EarthCube was described. At the present time there are detailed discussions happening online regarding EarthCube design considerations involving geoscience researchers, cyberinfrastructure specialists, and NSF staff. This period for online discussion will finish on October 17th and be quickly followed by a Charrette on November 1-4 at which individuals and groups will be invited to attend open community forums to further identify requirements, stimulate discussion, and foster partnerships and collaboration. There are a number of ways individuals in the GEM community can contribute to this EarthCube discussion right now: 1) Register as a user at the EarthCube website (http://earthcube.ning.com) 2) Fill out the Geosciences User Requirements Questionnaire 3) Join the discussion groups related to EarthCube Designs, Science Requirements, Governance Models or Technology and CI Solutions 4) Submit a White Paper 5) Express an interest in attending the Charrette All of the above activities need to be completed before October 17th. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. 2011 AGU Planetary Science/Space Physics Career Night Mixer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nicholas Gross Dear GEM student members, You are invited to the Planetary Science/Space Physics Career Night Mixer at the AGU 2011 Fall Meeting ********** You are invited to Planetary Science/Space Physics Career Night Mixer at AGU 2011 on Sunday, December 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the San Francisco Marriott Marquis Salon 3 and 4. * Are you considering a career in planetary science? In space physics and aeronomy? * Is there a professional scientist who you've always wanted to speak to but were too shy to approach? * Would you like to meet other students in the planetary science or space physics community? * Would you like free food??? If so, please join us on Sunday, Dec. 4th for the Planetary Science/Space Physics Career Night, hosted by the Planetary Division and the Space Physics and Aeronomy Division of AGU. We have gathered a panel of distinguished scientists for a Q&A session, to be followed by an opportunity to mingle with panelists and other students over food and drinks. Food will be provided FREE to ticket holders, and there will be a cash bar. Our panelists represent a broad range of research interests, experiences, and career choices. Most importantly, they want to help YOU get a better understanding of what kinds of careers are available in planetary science, and how you can pursue them. Not sure what you want to do yet? That's ok--they can help! There is no charge for this event, but please register for tickets on the AGU Fall Meeting Web site. The event is called "Planetary Science/Space Physics Career Night". Even if you have already registered for the AGU Fall Meeting, you can still log on to your account on the AGU Fall Meeting Web site and add tickets for this event. But hurry – space is limited! We look forward to seeing you at AGU! – Planetary Sciences Section ********** Questions? Contact Dr. Nicholas Gross (gross at bu.edu) for more information. +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | To subscribe GEM Messengers, send an e-mail to | | | | with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: | | subscribe gem | | To remove yourself from the mailing list, the command is: | | unsubscribe gem | | | | To broadcast a message to the GEM community, please contact | | Peter Chi at | | | | Please use plain text as the format of your submission. | | | | GEM Messenger is also posted online via newsfeed at | | http://heliophysics.blogspot.com and | | http://www.facebook.com/heliophysics | | | | Back issues are available at ftp://igpp.ucla.edu/scratch/gem/ | | | | URL of GEM Home Page: http://aten.igpp.ucla.edu/gemwiki | | Workshop Information: http://www.cpe.vt.edu/gem/index.html | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+