Welcome to the Spring 2026 LPL Newsletter. A few years ago the Department of Planetary Sciences partnered with our colleagues in Geosciences to create a new Planetary Geosciences undergraduate major within the College of Science here at the University of Arizona. This was LPL’s first foray into an undergraduate degree. I’m happy to report that the new major is growing fast and is attracting top students from across the country. Last year we graduated our first group of majors and this year a new group is joining the ranks as LPL alumni. Be sure to read about some of their accomplishments and impressive plans for the future in the pages that follow.

In March veteran LPLer Dolores Hill retired. Dolores has been an unstoppable member of our community since the 1980s when she joined LPL to work with Professor Laurel Wilkening to study chondrules in carbonaceous meteorites. Over her career she contributed to a multitude of projects and became our irrepressible public outreach lead, developing the ever popular engagement activity “Meteorite or Meteorwrong”. I know I already miss her positive energy and fountain of ideas to better convey LPL’s rich history to the world.

This past semester we mourned the passing of three longtime LPLers. Longtime faculty member Professor Emeritus Uwe Fink and technical staff member Karl Harshman both passed away this year. Uwe pioneered the study of rare gasses in Jupiter’s atmosphere, work that is being repeated today in the fields of exoplanet and brown dwarf science. Karl played critical roles in a number of LPL missions and was developing the University of Arizona Mission Operations Center at the time of his passing. We also sadly lost alum and longtime Mars HiRISE team member Paul Geissler. All three were important members of our community and will be remembered for a long time to come.

This issue also reports on the many recognitions and awards of our faculty, staff, alumni, and students. Our students have been recognized for their service and research in areas ranging from astrobiology to planet formation to volcanology. Meanwhile our alumni continue to be celebrated for their contributions to planetary science. In fact this year LPL alums swept the annual Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society science awards.

As you can see from the newsletter, despite the difficult ongoing federal funding climate for science, LPL faculty, staff, and students continue to play a leading role in the exploration and understanding of the Solar System and beyond. The broader climate makes support from individuals more important than ever. These funds provide valuable support for our students and mission. If you have interest in opportunities for giving please don’t hesitate to reach out or visit the giving page linked from the main LPL home page online.