Fall

Dr. Robert McMillan, Associate Research Scientist and Principal Investigator for the SPACEWATCH® program at LPL, retired on June 30, 2019. Bob began his career at LPL in 1979 as a Research Associate and became an Associate Research Scientist in 1995. Although he has “retired,” Bob is still managing SPACEWATCH® and scanning the skies from Kitt Peak. The SPACEWATCH® team had the pleasure this summer of hosting a celebration to congratulate Bob on his long career and retirement, and to wish him clear skies on his upcoming observing runs.

by Christopher Hamilton

For the Fall 2019 semester (October 17–21), the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) graduate student field trip class (PTYS 594A) ventured to the Zuni–Bandera Volcanic Field in New Mexico. The volcanic field is part of the Jemez Lineament, which extends from central Arizona to northeastern New Mexico. The Jemez Lineament includes approximately 100 volcanoes, which erupted during the past 16 Ma. This semester’s field trip primarily focused on lava tubes within the Hoya de Cibola lava flow-field, lava stratigraphy and inflation features within McCarty's lava flow-field, and Bandera Crater.

During the first day of the field trip, the group met with members of the National Park Service and travelled with Ranger Nicholas (“Nick”) Poister to the Haltun Cave. This provided students with a unique opportunity to explore an exceptional lava tube system within the El Malpais National Monument. On the second and third days, the class examined 20 m (65’) thick lava flow units within the McCarty's lava flow-field. This approximately 3000-year-old lava flow-field was emplaced over older Hoya de Cibola lava units as well as Holocene alluvial sediments. McCarty's lava flow units include outstanding examples of inflation features, which formed as the flows were supplied by lava through internal pathways and gradually swelled like a balloon. Similar structures are identified on Mars and provide valuable information about eruption timescales. Additionally, using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements, the class examined McCarty's lava units, estimating their thickness and identifying buried contacts with older materials (i.e., lava and sedimentary units) as analogs for imaging subsurface interfaces within volcanic terrains on Mars using the shallow radar (SHARAD) instrument. During the final day of the field trip, they visited Bandera Crater and an “ice cave” formed where meteoric water infiltrates into a cold lava tube to form perennial ice deposits.

This semester’s field trip involved the increased usage of high-tech (e.g., GPR and GPS) and low-tech (e.g., notebooks, measuring tape, compass, and hand lens) tools to develop detailed measurements and descriptions, with a focus on lava tube and other lava flow structures as analogs for volcanic terrains on the Moon and Mars, as well as elsewhere in the Solar System. Next semester, the field trip will explore a different region of the Southwest, with a trip to the Mojave Desert.

Dr. Failth Vilas (1984) has been named Editor of Planetary Science Journal, a new open-access online journal published by the Amerian Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS). Dr. Vilas is  a Senior Scientist with the Planetary Science Institute. In 2018, she was awarded the Masursky Award from DPS for meritorious service to planetary science. 

Dr. Devon Burr (UArizona Geosciences, 2003, Baker) is now Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, Northern Arizona University. Dr Burr’s primary interest are the landforms that result from fluid flow. Fluid flow includes flow by water that formed ancient rivers deposits on Mars, as well as flow in current rivers of liquid nitrogen on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Dr Burr also studies the deposits formed by the flow of air, or wind, on Mars and Titan. In addition, Dr. Burr studies lava flows on Mars and the tectonic landforms on icy satellites of the outer Solar System.

Dr. Joshua Emery (2002) has joined the faculty of Northern Arizona University as Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. Emery applies the techniques of astronomical reflection and emission spectroscopy and spectrophotometry of primitive and icy bodies in the near- (0.8 to 5.0 microns) and mid-infrared (5 to 50 microns) to investigate the formation and evolution of the Solar System and the distribution of organic material. The Jupiter Trojan asteroids have been a strong focus of his research, and he also regularly observes Kuiper Belt objects, icy satellites, and other asteroid groups to understand the state of their surfaces as related to these topics. Along with telescopic observations, he contributes to Solar System exploration as a science team member on the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, the Lucy Trojan asteroid flyby mission, and the NEO Surveyor Mission infrared telescope mission.

Dr. Ingrid Daubar (2014) is now Assistant Professor of Research at Brown University. This cross-country move from California (JPL) to Rhode Island is only one of the changes in Ingrid's life this past year—the other being the birth of beautiful baby Arthur. Congratulations, Ingrid!

LPL alumna Sarah Hörst (2011) has been awarded the 2020 Early Career Award from the Laboratory Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society. 

The LAD Early Career Award is given to scientists who have made important contributions to laboratory astrophysics within ten years of receiving their Ph.D. Dr. Hörst was recognized for her work in advancing our understanding of photochemical haze formation in planetary atmospheres within our solar system and beyond. Dr. Hörst is currently Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.