Meeting also by Zoom
Agenda:
7:00 - 7:15 General Meeting & Announcements 7:15 - 7:30 Short topic presentation by a club member
7:30 - 7:45 Refreshment break
7:45 - Public Presentation
Speaker: James Albury
Planetarium Director and host of the YouTube Series "The Sky Above Us"
Topic: Winter Stars
About the Speaker:
James C. Albury grew up in Miami, FL where he started volunteering at the Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium at the of age 14. He began by helping with ushering, but by age 15, he began working part-time as a console operator for the planetarium. Albury enjoyed astronomy and the planetarium environment so much, that he stayed with the Miami Science Museum until age 22 when he moved away to college.
In 1988, Albury relocated to Gainesville, FL to pursue a degree in Astronomy from the University of Florida. He graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in Astronomy and pursued post-baccalaureate studies in astronomy shortly thereafter.
Careers in astronomy being what they were, Albury worked from 1993 - 2007 for UF's Office of Academic Technology and then as a manager with Lifestyle Family Fitness in Jacksonville, FL from 2007 - 2009. In 2009, Albury was able to professionally return to his first love (Astronomy) when he became the director of the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium at Santa Fe College. He has produced numerous planetarium shows in the 11 years that he has been the planetarium’s director.
Albury was also a co-host with Dean Regas of the internationally syndicated PBS show “Star Gazers” (the world’s only weekly television program on naked-eye astronomy). Albury and Regas hosted the show together from October 2011 to November 2019. In February 2020, Albury launched his own astronomy series on YouTube titled “The Sky Above Us”. Each episode gives viewers a sneak-peak at the celestial events, planets and constellations that are visible in the sky during the coming weeks. (http://www.theskyaboveus.org)
Between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020, Albury served as President of the Southeastern Planetarium Association (SEPA); a professional organization for the support of planetaria and staff in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and all U.S. Territories off the southeastern coast of the U.S. He currently serves on the SEPA Executive Council as Past-president (2021-2022) and advises the current President and Vice-president. (http://www.sepadomes.org)
Albury has spoken around the country and internationally on various astronomical topics, including the challenges and opportunities for public interest in astronomy and astronomical outreach.
Lastly, Albury has a very supportive family in his wife Kandra and three children Drea, Myra and Bryce; without whom none of this would be possible.
Speaker:
Dr. Paul Weissman
Senior Scientist Emeritus
Planetary Science Institute
Topic: Rosetta Mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Abstract:
Comets are time capsules containing primitive material left over from the epoch when the Sun and its planets formed. By studying the gas, dust and structure of the nucleus and organic materials associated with the comet, via both remote and in situ observations, the Rosetta helped to reveal the history and evolution of our Solar System. Rosetta launched in 2004 and arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 6 August 2014. It was the first mission in history to rendezvous with a comet, escort it as it orbited the Sun, and deploy a lander to its surface, also a first. Rosetta was a European Space Agency (ESA) mission with contributions from its member states and NASA. The mission ended on 30 September 2016.
Dr. Weissman received his Bachelor of Arts in Physics from Cornell University in 1969. He earned two Masters of Science degrees, one in Astronomy from the University of Massachusetts in 1971 and his second in Planetary and Space Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1973. Dr. Weissman was awarded his Ph.D. in 1978 from the University of California, Los Angeles for his work on the Physical and Dynamical Evolution of Long-Period Comets. He has worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in a multiple array of capacities, including as a research scientist in the Earth and Space Sciences Division (1979), Mission Scientist for the Mariner Mark II Project (1981 – 1982), Co-Investigator on the Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer Science Development Team (1984 – 1988), Deputy Project Scientist on the Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby Project (1987 – 1992), Co-Investigator on the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) experiment on the Galileo spacecraft (1988 – 2003), Deputy Study Scientist for the Champollion Lander on the International Rosetta Mission (1995 – 1996), Project Scientist for the Champollion/DS4 Comet Lander and Sample Return Mission (1996 – 1999), and the Astronomy Science Lead at Table Mountain Observatory (2003 – 2015). Dr. Weissman was a Senior Research Scientist at JPL from 1995 until he joined PSI in 2015.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Paul Weissman is a leader in comet studies, and his research focuses on the characterization and understanding of comet nuclei. His research includes the evolution of comets, their connection with the asteroid population, and their role in the evolution of the solar system. Other studies, relevant to comet evolution include examining the dynamical history of the Oort Cloud and its evolution over the formation of the solar system.
Interesting fact - Minor Planet 3197 Weissman is named after him.
Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul
Director, University of Florida (UF) Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research
Research Professor, UF Horticulture Sciences
Topic: Plant Experiments in Space
Before there was access to space, all experiments on plant growth were conducted under the influence of gravity. Access to micro-gravity through spaceflight has opened new doors to plant research which is necessary for mankind’s ability to survive long-term spaceflight and while at Mars outposts. Dr. Paul will provide an overview of some of the methodologies of conducting plant research in the unique environment of space.
Dr. Paul received her BA in Botany from the University of South Florida (USF) in 1980; her M.S. in Plant Phys. / Physiological Ecology from USF in 1984; and her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics / Epigenetics from UF in 1989. Dr. Paul did her postdoctoral work in Chromatin Architecture at UF and Northwestern University from 1990 to 1995.
Since 1996 Dr. Paul has worked at UF in the areas of Horticulture Sciences, Genetics and Genomics and Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology. Dr. Paul’s international work includes the EDEN ISS Project at the German Space Agency (DLR), Bremen Germany which included deployment to the Neumayer Research Station, Antarctica. Since 2004 Dr. Paul has participated in hypobaric Mars analog habitats at the University of Guelph, Guelph Ontario, Canada. Additionally, Dr. Paul has worked on the Haughton Mars Project on Devon Island, in the Canadian High Arctic.
Dr. Paul has over 80 refereed journal publications and has received over $6M in extramural research funding over the past 10 years. Dr. Paul served as President of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (2017-2018); the UF Designated Representative to the Universities Space Research Association (2017); awarded for most compelling results on the International Space Station (awarded jointly with R.J. Ferl in 2015); has served on the NASA GeneLab, Science Council since 2013; served as the NASA GeneLab KSC Science Element Lead – IPA (2013-2016); served on the Governing Board of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology (2005-2008 and 2013-present); Board Member of the Suborbital Applications Researchers Group (2012-present); Editor in Chief of the Gravitational and Space Biology Journal (2010-present); UF Graduate Coordinator, Program in Plant molecular and Cellular Biology 2013-present); the Lead IFAS Cohort Member (2012-2013); Board Member, ISS Standing review Board (2012-2013); Science Writing Academy Participant and UF/HOS representative to the National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (2013).
Dr. Paul’s research interests focus on the regulation of plant gene expression in response to abiotic stress and extreme environments, with a particular interest in chromatin structure, genome organization, and epigenetic change. Venues associated with spaceflight provide an opportunity to explore plant genomic responses to an environment that is outside the evolutionary experience of terrestrial organisms. This unique platform presents a background by which adaptive metabolisms can be observed as they are crafted to cope with a stress from a new environment; providing a window into the origins of adaptive processes.
Speaker: TBD
