PROGRAM June 17-22, 2012
PHYSICS RESEARCH & EDUCATION GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE
SUNDAY |
2:00 pm – 8:00 pm Arrival and check-in
(Office Closed 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm)
6:00 pm – 7:15 pm Dinner
7:30 pm – 7:40 pm Welcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:40 pm – 9:30 pm The Physics in Astronomy’s Discoveries and Technologies
Discussion Leader: Charles H. Holbrow (Colgate U / MIT)
7:40 pm – 8:20 pm Robert Kirshner (Harvard)
“The Energetic Universe”
8:20 pm – 8:35 pm Discussion
8:35 pm – 9:15 pm Noah Finkelstein (U Colorado)
“Evolve or Die: Challenges in Physics Education at a Critical Time”
9:15 pm – 9:30 pm Discussion
MONDAY |
7:30 am – 8:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm Exoplanets: New Worlds – How to find them; what they’re like
Discussion Leader: Sara Seager (MIT)
9:00 am – 9:40 am David Charbonneau (Harvard)
How the Hunt for Habitable Worlds with Kepler Can Inspire Students in Physics”
9:40 am – 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am – 11:10 am Doug Caldwell (NASA-SETI)
“Finding and Understanding Exoplanets Using Undergraduate Physics”
11:10 am – 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am – 12:10 pm Scott Gaudi (The Ohio State University)
“How to Conduct a Census of Exoplanets”
12:10 pm – 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pm Lunch
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm Free Time
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Poster Session
6:00 pm Dinner
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm What is Being Done at Smaller Institutions
Discussion Leader: Mario Belloni (Davidson College)
7:30 pm – 7:50 pm Dan Reichart (UNC Chapel Hill)
“Project Intro Astro: Skynet Robotic Telescope-Based Labs for Majors
and Non-Majors”
7:50 pm – 8:00 pm Discussion
8:00 pm – 8:20 pm Larry Marschall (Gettysburg College)
“Astronomical Research in an Undergraduate Setting: Exploring the Real Sky at
Gettysburg College Observatory and the Virtual Sky through Project CLEA”
8:20 pm – 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm – 8:50 pm Todd Timberlake (Berry College)
“Engaging with the History of Astronomy”
8:50 pm – 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm – 9:20 pm Wolfgang Christian (Davidson College)
“ComPADRE Digital Library Resources for Teaching Astronomy.”
9:20 pm – 9:30 pm Discussion
TUESDAY |
7:30 am – 8:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm Observational Cosmology: New Horizons
Discussion Leader: Robert Kirshner (Harvard)
9:00 am – 9:40 am Tony Tyson (U C Davis)
“Imaging the Invisible: Optical Instrumentation for Cosmology”
9:40 am – 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am – 11:10 am Chris Stubbs (Harvard)
“Why has the discovery of dark energy precipitated a crisis
in fundamental physics?”
11:10 am – 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am – 12:10 pm Bryan Penprase (Pomona College)
“Beacons of the Early Universe – Detecting Elements from the First Stars and Galaxies from Quasar
and Gamma-Ray-Burst Spectra”
12:10 pm – 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pm Lunch
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm Free Time
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Poster Session
6:00 pm Dinner
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Teaching Physics with Astronomy: What AER & PER tell us
Discussion Leader: Hashima Hasan (NASA)
7:30 pm – 8:00 pm Ed Prather (U Arizona)
“Astronomy Education Research: Providing a framework for integrating our
understanding of the universe into the physics classroom”
8:00 pm – 8:10 pm Discussion
8:10 pm – 8:40 pm Seth Hornstein (U Colorado)
“Enlivening Physics Education through Astronomy Research:
Extrasolar Planets & Black Holes.”
8:40 pm – 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm – 9:20 pm Dean Zollman (Kansas State U)
“Context Matters: Insights from transfer research on teaching
physics with examples from astronomy”
9:20 pm – 9:30 pm Discussion
WEDNESDAY |
7:30 am – 8:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm Stars and Physics
Discussion Leader: Beth Willman (Haverford College)
9:00 am – 9:40 am Peter Parker (Yale)
“Stars in the Laboratory”
9:40 am – 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am – 11:10 am Amanda Karakas (Australian National University)
“Why we don’t understand the origin of the elements as well
as we think we do!”
11:10 am – 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am – 12:10 pm Andrew West (Boston University)
“The Statistical Power of Billions of Stars:
Stellar and Galactic Astronomy in the Era of Deep All-Sky Surveys”
12:10 pm – 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pm Lunch
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm Free Time
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Poster Session
6:00 pm Dinner
7:00 pm – 7:30 pm Business Meeting
Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms;
Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Frontiers of Astronomy’s Instruments & Detectors
Discussion Leader: Randy Peterson (U of the South – Sewanee)
7:30 pm – 8:10 pm Alan Rogers (MIT Haystack Observatory)
“Examples of Radio Astronomy Instrumentation for research
and education”
8:10 pm – 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm – 8:50 pm Paul Bierden (Boston Micromachines Corp.)
“Adaptive Optics for Astronomers & Others”
8:50 pm – 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm – 9:20 pm John Taranto (Thorlabs)
“Adaptive Optics in the Undergraduate Lab”
9:20 pm – 9:30 pm Discussion
THURSDAY |
7:30 am – 8:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am – 12:30 pm Gravitational Radiation & Interesting Objects
Discussion Leader: Barbara Ryden (The Ohio State University)
9:00 am – 9:40 am Duncan Brown (Syracuse U)
“The New Astronomy of LIGO”
9:40 am – 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am – 11:10 am Greg Bothun (U Oregon)
“Astronomy: Data Driven Inquiry to Reveal the Physics”
11:10 am – 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am – 12:10 pm Lucy Fortson (U Minnesota)
“The Extreme Universe: The Science and Tools of High Energy
Astrophysics in the Classroom”
12:10 pm – 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pm Lunch
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm Free Time
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Poster Session
6:00 pm Dinner
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm Astronomy Based Materials for Teaching Physics: What should they be? Who will make them?
Discussion Leader: Ed Prather (U Arizona)
7:30 pm – 8:10 pm Rapporteur: Sterl Phinney (Caltech)
“Can astrophysics revitalize physics education? Should it?”
8:10 pm – 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm Panel: Joseph Amato (Colgate U), Greg Bothun (U Oregon),
Tom O’Kuma (Lee College)
“Where do we go next? What will you do to get us there?”
8:45 pm – 9:30 pm Discussion
FRIDAY |
7:30 am – 8:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am Departure