Conference Summary
AAS Division for Planetary Sciences 39th Meeting
October 7--12, 2007, Orlando, Florida

Brenae Bailey
PhD Candidate
Applied Mathematics GIDP

I attended the 39th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) in Orlando, Florida during the week of October 7?-12, 2007. The field of planetary sciences includes the study of all objects in the solar system except the Sun, as well as material orbiting other stars. Planetary scientists thus have backgrounds in astronomy, physics, geology, chemistry, meteorology, biology, and mathematics.

One of the highlights of the meeting for me was the Women in Astronomy brown bag lunch that was held on Wednesday. The topic of discussion was Women in Leadership Roles. The panel of speakers included Yvonne Pendleton of NASA Headquarters, Robin Canup of the Southwest Research Institute, and Linda Spilker of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The session was chaired by Amy Simon?Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. It was inspiring to see so many women who have successful careers in science, and to hear again that it is possible to both have a career and raise a family. The panelists offered much useful advice for advancing one's career: write popular articles; serve on panels; review papers; go to conferences; and apply for positions even if you don't think you are qualified¡Xdon't underrate yourself. This is of course good advice for everyone, not just women.

I also enjoyed attending the many sessions of talks, particularly those on extrasolar systems, Pluto and its satellites, planet migration, and Kuiper Belt structure and evolution. Both the talks and the poster sessions allowed me to gain a broader sense of the work that is being done in planetary sciences today, and to begin to attach faces to the names I have seen in the literature. I presented my poster on "Orbital Evolution of Centaurs¡¨ on Thursday afternoon. Despite my nervousness, my two minute spiel went well, and several people had questions and expressed interest afterward. Talking with them and with the other scientists that I met at the conference gave me insights into how my work fits into the bigger picture and suggested some new directions for my research.

As a bonus, my husband and daughter and I took the opportunity to drive to Cape Canaveral and watch a satellite launch on Wednesday evening. The rocket was an Atlas 5. Even from several miles away, the bright light of the liftoff was impressive. The light rose and arched overhead and kept on going. The rumble reached us about 40 seconds after liftoff. Though she is very young, my daughter was intrigued by the light and the noise, and I am glad that we had a chance to give her that experience.

In sum, attending the DPS meeting in Orlando allowed me to meet other scientists in my field of research, learn about other work that is being done, acquire new ideas for extending my research, and gain valuable experience in presenting my work to others. I look forward to attending more conferences in the future, and I am thankful that the Herbert E. Carter Travel Award helped to make this experience possible.