Contents

• A publicly compiled, interstellar radio wave transmission
• 4th Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) Symposium - Jan. 12-15, 2016
• In-person & Online Workshop on the Consequences of Internal Planet Evolution for the Habitability and Detectability of Life - Feb. 17-19, 2016
• Conference on Water in the Universe: From Clouds to Oceans - Apr. 12-15, 2016
• Outer Planets Assessment Group Meeting - Feb. 1-2, 2016
• Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group Meeting - March 2-3, 2016
• LPI Summer Intern Program in Planetary Science - Deadline Jan. 8, 2016
• Exploration Science Summer Intern Program in Planetary Science - Deadline Jan. 15, 2016
• Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internships - Summer 2016 - Deadline Feb. 5, 2016
• NExSS Winter School: Interaction between planet interiors and surfaces - Deadline Dec. 7, 2015
• 2016 Kavli Summer Program in Astrophysics - UC Santa Cruz - Deadline Jan. 22, 2016
• NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program - Deadline Feb. 1, 2016
• Postdoctoral position at the SETI Institute in Astrobiology and Planetary Science

A publicly compiled, interstellar radio wave transmission

Welcome to 'A Simple Response to an Elemental Message', a non-for-profit, publically-compiled, Interstellar Radio Message due to be transmitted from Earth on a one-way journey to our North Star in 2016.

“How will our present, collective environmental interactions shape the future?”

Today, we are situated within a period theorised as “The Critical Decade”, a pivotal point within our civilisations’ history in which present ecological decisions may inherently commit future generations to adversity. Global decisions reached at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris as well as made at home will collectively hold equal weight in sculpting this arrow of time for all of Earth’s inhabitants regardless of species, location or adaptability. Never before has humankind wielded this capacity to author the future of the Earth's entire biosphere; our civilisation has truly become a worldwide, geological agent whose capabilities can rival that of nature's own sculpting forces.

So how do you think we, as a species, will shape this future? ‘A Simple Response to an Elemental Message’ invites individuals from anywhere on the planet to consider and freely contribute their own unique [text-based] perspectives to the posed question; “How will our present, collective environmental interactions shape the future?” In autumn 2016, material submitted in response to this globally relevant question will be transmitted into deep space to commence its interstellar, light-speed journey; in effect, creating a culturally-inspired, ‘message in a bottle’ of global perspectives encoded within light itself that will propagate out into space for eons.

By submitting text contributions from across the globe for this interstellar, poetic time capsule, participants will be contributing to ongoing dialogue concerning how our civilisation collectively perceives its’ role within shaping the future of the environment and establish a means by which we may collectively analyse these perspectives for cross-cultural universals within this single, global human community.

- Paul Quast, Artist & Project Coordinator.

 

Wish to know more about this initiative or participate in this transmission? Please visit the purpose-
built project website to explore, interact, investigate the research and, if interested, contribute your

own unique perspective to this interstellar odyssey via; www.asimpleresponse.org

You can follow the progress of this interstellar odyssey on Facebook and Twitter via:

www.facebook.com/ASimpleResponse

Or

www.twitter.com/ASimpleResponse

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In-person & Online Workshop on the Consequences of Internal Planet Evolution for the Habitability and Detectability of Life - Feb. 17-19, 2016

Upstairs Downstairs: Consequences of Internal Planet Evolution for the Habitability and Detectability of Life on Extrasolar Planets

A Workshop Without Walls Presented by the NAI, NExSS, and NSF

Where: Arizona State University & Virtual Locations
Date: February 17th - 19th, 2016
Time: 9:00AM - 5:00PM MST

The chemistry and physics of planetary interiors shapes conditions at their surfaces in ways that profoundly affect habitability and our ability to detect life. The nature and extent of these interactions are not well understood even on Earth. For example, we debate the ways in which internal processes affected the emergence of an O2-rich surface environment on Earth, paving the way for complex life. As a result, we lack a guiding theory from which we can infer the likelihood that O2 will accumulate in the atmospheres of exoplanets with slightly different mass or composition from Earth. The implications for exoplanet habitability and life detection strategies have barely been considered.

The goal is a community research roadmap and white paper aimed at developing a theory of planetary evolution, from solar nebula to evolving world, that will guide the search for inhabited worlds into the next generation. To this end, the workshop will be open to community participation via face-to-face attendance at ASU, and virtual participation as a NASA Workshop Without Walls.This workshop will bring together astrobiologists, astronomers, planetary scientists, geochemists, geophysicists, and others needed to develop a working theory about the complex relationships between the surface habitability and internal evolution of Earth and Earth-like worlds.

Click here to RSVP
No commitment necessary!

Key themes:

Exoplanetary Observations
What can we observe now and in the near future that has bearing on facets of exoplanet geophysics and geochemistry that shape habitability and detectability?

Physics and Chemistry in Planetary Formation
How does our understanding of planetary formation inform our ability to predict planetary compositions and hence important geophysical and geochemical parameters?

Atmospheres and Biosignatures
What are our longer-term observational aims and how are they affected by surface-interior interactions?

Physical Behavior of Planetary Materials and Planetary Structure
What are our limits of understanding of planetary material behaviors and surface tectonics, and how must this understanding extend and evolve to guide the search?

Thermal and Chemical Evolution of Planets
What are our limits of understanding of solid planet evolution and how must this understanding extend and evolve to guide the search?

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Outer Planets Assessment Group Meeting - Feb. 1-2, 2016

OPAG will meet February 1-2, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. Please forecast your travel if you need to - the deadline is imminent.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/

LPI Summer Intern Program in Planetary Science - Deadline Jan. 8, 2016

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) invites undergraduates with at least 50 semester hours of credit to experience cutting-edge research in the lunar and planetary sciences.

The deadline for application is January 8, 2016.

Summer interns will work one-on-one with a scientist at the LPI or at the NASA Johnson Space Center on a research project of current interest in lunar and planetary science. Furthermore, they will participate in peer-reviewed research, learn from top-notch planetary scientists, and preview various careers in science.

The 10-week program begins June 6, 2016, and ends on August 12, 2016. Selected students will receive a $5675.00 stipend; in addition, U.S. students will receive a $1000.00 travel stipend, and foreign nationals will receive a $1500.00 foreign travel reimbursement.

Applications are only accepted via the electronic application form found at the LPI’s intern website

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Exploration Science Summer Intern Program in Planetary Science - Deadline Jan. 15, 2016

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) and NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is hosting a special Exploration Science Summer Intern Program to build on the success of the former Lunar Exploration Summer Intern Program that was designed to evaluate possible landing sites on the Moon for robotic and human exploration missions. Over a five year period (2008–2012), teams of students worked with Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) science staff and their collaborators to produce A Global Lunar Landing Site Study to Provide the Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon. The program for 2016 is designed to have the same impact on future exploration activities, but has a broader scope that includes both the Moon and near-Earth asteroids. It is a unique opportunity to integrate scientific input with exploration activities in a way that mission architects and spacecraft engineers can use. Activities may involve assessments and traverse plans for a particular destination (e.g., on the lunar farside) or a more general assessment of a class of possible exploration targets (e.g., small near-Earth asteroids).

The 10-week program runs from May 23, 2016, through July 29, 2016. Selected interns will receive a $5675 stipend to cover the costs associated with being in Houston for the duration of the program. Additionally, U.S. citizens will receive up to $1000 in travel expense reimbursement and foreign nationals will receive up to $1500 in travel expense reimbursement.

**APPLICATION DEADLINE: January 15, 2016**

Applications are only accepted using the electronic application form found at LPI’s
Exploration Science Summer Intern website.

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Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internships - Summer 2016 - Deadline Feb. 5, 2016

The goal of the Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internship is to provide promising students with the opportunity to work in the area of civil space research policy in the nation's capital, under the aegis of the Space Science Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The summer 2016 program is only open to undergraduates.

  
The deadline for applications is February 5. Candidate(s) selected for will be contacted no later than March 4. Additional information about the program, including application procedure, can be found at: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/ssb_052239

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NExSS Winter School: Interaction between planet interiors and surfaces - Deadline Dec. 7, 2015

2016 Kavli Summer Program in Astrophysics - UC Santa Cruz - Deadline Jan. 22, 2016

 

NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program - Deadline Feb. 1, 2016

NASA announces a call for graduate fellowship proposals to the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) program for the 2016-2017 academic year.  This call for fellowship proposals solicits applications from accredited U.S. universities on behalf of individuals pursuing Master of Science (M.Sc.) or Doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in Earth and space sciences, or related disciplines. The purpose of NESSF is to ensure continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines needed to achieve NASA’s scientific goals. Awards resulting from this competitive selection will be made in the form of training grants to the respective universities.

The deadline for new applications is February 1, 2016.

The NESSF call for proposals and submission instructions are located at the NESSF 16 solicitation index page at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ - click on "Solicitations" then click on "Open Solicitations" then select the "NESSF 16" announcement.  Also refer to “Program Specific Questions” and “Frequently Asked Questions” listed under “Other Documents” on the NESSF 16 solicitation index page.

For further information contact Claire Macaulay, Program Administrator for NESSF Earth Science Research, Telephone: (202) 358-0151, E-mail: claire.i.macaulay@nasa.gov or Dolores Holland, Program Administrator for NESSF Heliophysics Research, Planetary Science Research, and Astrophysics Research, Telephone: (202) 358-0734, E-mail:. hq-nessf-Space@nasa.gov

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Postdoctoral position at the SETI Institute in Astrobiology and Planetary Science