Mark your Calendars

Science on Tap

November 7, 2013

5:30 pm

Cosmo Tapas

4200 Central Ave SE

 

Touring the early solar system with Dawn

The NASA Dawn mission will explore the two largest objects in the main asteroid belt, the dwarf planet Ceres and the giant asteroid Vesta. Ceres and Vesta are planetary embryos, relics of the ancient solar system that provide clues about how the four innermost, rocky planets formed. Since their discovery in the 19th century, our view of asteroids has undergone dramatic change – from the missing “fifth planet” to a multitude of small bodies that are the source of most meteorites. Until recently, telescopic observations and meteorite studies were the basis of our knowledge of the asteroid belt. In 2011 and 2012, the Dawn spacecraft took a close-up look at Vesta, transforming this New-Mexico-sized asteroid from a fuzzy patch of light into a complex, geological world. Dawn’s exploration of Vesta has provided new insights into magmatic processes and impacts that shaped this igneous asteroid. In 2015, the Dawn spacecraft will arrive at Ceres, becoming the first to successively orbit and map two solar system objects. Dawn will be at Ceres when New Horizons arrives at Pluto, providing a simultaneous first look at two, icy dwarf planets. Adding to the excitement is the possibility that Ceres may harbor a subsurface, briny liquid-water ocean.  Dawn’s instruments could detect surface expressions of a sub-crustal ocean, which if present may have implications for the origins of life.  I’ll describe the Dawn mission, including its pre-history, genesis and development, successful exploration of Vesta and prospects for Ceres.

 

 

Image credits: NASA, JPL-Caltech, UCLA, MPS, DLR, IDA, PSI

Tom Prettyman, Ph.D. is a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute “PSI,” a not-for-profit NASA research institute centered in Tucson. He is one of several PSI scientists working in New Mexico and is proud to call Albuquerque home. Tom’s doctorate is in Nuclear Engineering and his area of expertise is planetary remote sensing. He has experience working on NASA planetary missions, including Lunar Prospector and 2001 Mars Odyssey. He is a co-investigator of the Dawn mission to the main asteroid belt, for which he serves as the lead for the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector “GRaND,” the only US payload instrument. In addition, Tom is as an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Mexico's Institute of Meteoritics and a Fellow of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, which aims to turn science fiction into reality.

Come one Come all!

 

 

Science on Tap

Thursday, October 3, 2013

5:30 pm

Cosmo Tapas

4200 Central Ave SE

 

Parasites, bugs, and creepy-crawlies in our backyard:

Raising Chagas Disease awareness in local communities

 

What we don’t know about our environment can have a direct impact on our daily lives, health, and well-being.  Chagas’ Disease is a long-term chronic disease that causes heart disease and digestive problems yet resides latent for decades with no apparent symptoms.  While Chagas is often thought of as “the disease on the other side of the border,” and associated with substandard housing, it also has the potential to emerge in New Mexico as human interactions with the environment increase.  Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas, is found in the Kissing Bug (Triatoma) vector, which are known to cohabitates with Neotoma (rats).  All three, parasites, bugs, and rodents have been found to live in New Mexico’s recreational backyards such as

the Gila Wilderness.  Scientists  located T. cruzi in Triatome bugs 50 years ago near Tyrone, but until 2011, no one continued the search for the parasite.  This talk will provide an overview of the 1959 discovery of T. cruzi and the 2011 efforts to locate it in specific geographic areas.  This fun and informative talk will convey the interesting interactions of the parasite/bug/rodent and how it affects our day-to-day living. 

 

 

Marjorie McConnell holds a Master's degree in Social Science from Utah State University, and earned a PhD in Medical Sociology from the University of New Mexico. Her dissertation involved measuring behavior changes in response to hantavirus outreach programs in northwestern New Mexico, Panama, and Chile. Her experience with interdisciplinary teams expanded in 2010 with the creation of the Geo-Epidemiology Research Network (GERN), including team members from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the New Mexico Consortium, New Mexico universities, University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Kansas. GERN takes an interdisciplinary research perspective in the Geo-spatial nuances of infectious diseases. Her current research interests are within the social-epidemiology and ecology of hantavirus, Chagas, and emerging infectious diseases.  In addition to her appointment as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology, she has duties and responsibilities as Director of Core Services at the Long Term Ecological Research Network Office housed at the University of New Mexico.  Marjorie is also a Certified Research Administrator, with more than 21 years of direct experience in grant, cooperative agreement, and contract management.