Lunar and Planetary Institute (NASA) workshop at Dawson Jan. 9-11

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (NASA) is holding the 1st Workshop on Ices in the Solar System at Dawson College (Jan. 9–11, 2023).

The two principal convenors are Richard Soare (Geography), a Mars researcher and Dawson College faculty member and Jim Garvin, formerly NASA’s Chief Mars Scientist and currently the Principal Investigator of the DaVinci Mission to Venus, scheduled to fly in 2031.

Entitled “a Volatile-Excursion from Mercury and the Moon to the Kuiper Belt and Beyond,” the Workshop has attracted over 50 planetary scientists from around the world. Thirty or so Dawson College students and faculty members also will be in attendance.

Some of the participants will be Dawson students in SPACE, who were invited to summarize abstracts, as part of a sequence of learning activities, related to their interests for a chance to attend. Four students will be presenting their project at the poster session on Jan. 10. Students will also be working at the conference, welcoming guests and mounting posters. All will receive credit for their involvement through the SPACE: Arts and Sciences certificate.

Since the early 2000’s Richard has explored the possibility of water having been freeze-thaw cycled at the Martian surface throughout its late geological history and has published over 150 scholarly articles and full-length abstracts towards that end. You can learn more about his research by reading an article lead-written by him and published on the Dawson website in 2021.