Voting for new UKPF committee members
Two of our Co-Chairs, Natasha Almeida and Alex Clarke, are stepping down from the UKPF committee. As a result, we would like to appoint two new committee members as soon as possible to support the existing members.
The purpose of the UK Planetary Forum is to promote all aspects of planetary research in the UK amongst scientists and towards the public. The forum is currently headed by Co-Chairs who run this website, maintain the mailing list, organise the annual UKPF meeting as well as sessions at the National Astronomy meeting, and are developing engagement with the British Planetary Science Congress.
Details of the four applicants for these positions are given below - to vote, please find and COMPLETE THE VOTING FORM AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE by 5pm FRIDAY 10th MAY!
The purpose of the UK Planetary Forum is to promote all aspects of planetary research in the UK amongst scientists and towards the public. The forum is currently headed by Co-Chairs who run this website, maintain the mailing list, organise the annual UKPF meeting as well as sessions at the National Astronomy meeting, and are developing engagement with the British Planetary Science Congress.
Details of the four applicants for these positions are given below - to vote, please find and COMPLETE THE VOTING FORM AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE by 5pm FRIDAY 10th MAY!
Thomas Barrett
My main research focus is isotope geochemistry, particularly volatiles (source(s), amounts) and their evolution in the inner Solar System. I am also interested meteoritics and samples that display anomalous characteristics compared to others within the same group. Recently, I have started to explore the effects of shock on volatiles in meteorites as well as instrument development. Currently, I am a Research Fellow at The Open University (OU) and my work involves the determination of the volatile content coupled with the hydrogen and chlorine isotopic composition of mineral apatite in meteorites, specifically the basaltic meteorites known as eucrites. Prior to my current position, I conducted my PhD on similar work at the OU and my MSci in Geology at the University of Birmingham.
I would be an ideal candidate for the position as I am an eager, dedicated, and conscientious person as demonstrated by my positions on smaller scale forums. I am currently the Post-Doctoral Liaison for the Robert Hooke Society at the OU, former Society Social Secretary, as well as Ninjutsu Club Captain at Birmingham University. Responsibilities such as these have provided me with experience of managing and working within a committee, while exhibiting leadership qualities. I am also currently part of the team organising the “Living on the Moon” stand for the Royal Society Summer of Science Exhibit. This has allowed me to gain valuable insight into the organisation of larger events, along with how to engage with a diverse audience. I believe that the PhD and early stage of a career are vital to future success; it is through platforms such as the UKPF website and Early Career Meetings that we as a cohort can find useful information, network with one another, and publicise our research. Given the current uncertainty surrounding future of research in the UK, it is now more than ever that we as a group must pull together and support one another. If elected, I will aim to grow our engagement and ensure the UKPF continues to provide this important role.
I would be an ideal candidate for the position as I am an eager, dedicated, and conscientious person as demonstrated by my positions on smaller scale forums. I am currently the Post-Doctoral Liaison for the Robert Hooke Society at the OU, former Society Social Secretary, as well as Ninjutsu Club Captain at Birmingham University. Responsibilities such as these have provided me with experience of managing and working within a committee, while exhibiting leadership qualities. I am also currently part of the team organising the “Living on the Moon” stand for the Royal Society Summer of Science Exhibit. This has allowed me to gain valuable insight into the organisation of larger events, along with how to engage with a diverse audience. I believe that the PhD and early stage of a career are vital to future success; it is through platforms such as the UKPF website and Early Career Meetings that we as a cohort can find useful information, network with one another, and publicise our research. Given the current uncertainty surrounding future of research in the UK, it is now more than ever that we as a group must pull together and support one another. If elected, I will aim to grow our engagement and ensure the UKPF continues to provide this important role.
Tara Hayden
I am currently a PhD student at the Open University, and my research focus is on the history and evolution of volatiles in a range of lunar samples. Currently, I am working on the abundance and isotopic composition of volatiles in apatites present in lunar brecciated meteorites. I have worked to classify three samples as lunar meteorites and identified the presence of apatite in a few of these. My next steps will be going on to investigate the extent of shock of these apatites, and their volatile contents and composition. I believe that I would be a good candidate as I am motivated, organised, and passionate about learning and sharing knowledge. I have experience of the planning and management of events, through my current role as a Social Secretary of the Robert Hooke Society at the Open University, and previous roles as a year representative of the Geography Society at Glasgow University, and as a Student Ambassador for Unite Students Glasgow. These roles have also provided me with experience of working within a diverse team and the ability to solve problems at short notice. Currently, I am part of the Open University’s organisation committee for a stand at the 2019 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition titled “Living on the Moon”, providing me with valuable experience of the organisation and logistics of public engagement activities. As preparation for this event, I recently represented the Open University’s Lunar Research Group at the Edinburgh Science Festival (9th and 10th April) on a stand titled “Moon Under the Microscope”. With a diverse audience, I learned how to quickly cater the message of the exhibit to the age and knowledge base of the public. I worked closely with technical staff to use and promote the OpenSTEM remote Scanning Electron Microscopy facilities at the Open University, responding quickly to resolve technical issues. As I am at such an early stage in my PhD, I have benefitted from the range of information, communication and opportunities shared on the UKPF platform. This is an experience I would like to pass on to future early career researchers. If I am elected, I intend to broaden our engagement with other national forums, as I believe interdisciplinary engagement can improve the impact of our research.
Richard Haythornthwaite
My main area of research is the ion composition and plasma dynamics of the environments surrounding Enceladus and Titan, to investigate these environments I primarily use plasma data from the Cassini CAPS instrument. Currently I am a first year PhD student in the Planetary Science group at Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL. Before undertaking my PhD I was at Imperial College London studying for an MSci in Physics, where my masters project involved a study of magnetic reconnection at Saturn’s magnetopause.
I have previous experience being on committees having been on two during my time at Imperial. In my third year I served as Publicity Officer for Imperial College’s Physics Society. I also spent two years on the Imperial College Space Society committee, firstly as a Project Manager in my third year and then as Chair of the society in my fourth year. During these roles I learnt a lot about time-management and organisation that would make me a good candidate for co-chair. In addition, I believe my background in publicity work could be useful in increasing the profile of UKPF.
I have previous experience being on committees having been on two during my time at Imperial. In my third year I served as Publicity Officer for Imperial College’s Physics Society. I also spent two years on the Imperial College Space Society committee, firstly as a Project Manager in my third year and then as Chair of the society in my fourth year. During these roles I learnt a lot about time-management and organisation that would make me a good candidate for co-chair. In addition, I believe my background in publicity work could be useful in increasing the profile of UKPF.
John Pernet-Fisher
Hello! I’m John Pernet-Fisher. I have been a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester since 2015. Having trained as a terrestrial geochemist, I became enthralled by the world of planetary science during my first postdoc at the University of Tennessee. Since then, I have been involved in a range of research projects focusing on Lunar and Martian petrology/geochemistry. In particular, I use the volcanic rocks that have been either directly sampled from planetary bodies (i.e. Apollo), or have fallen to the Earth as meteorites, in order to answer questions such as: How do planetary crusts form? and How do planetary mantles chemically change over time?
Ever since doing my undergraduate degree in Geology with Science Communication, I have been passionate about promoting planetary science amongst other scientists and the general public. As such, I feel that I would be a good candidate to sit on the UKPF committee. I regularly take part in the outreach activities run by the cosmochemistry group at the University of Manchester. This year I have also launched a YouTube channel called Earth and Solar System, where we host a weekly podcast (The Cosmic Cast) about all aspects of planetary science. The aim being to not only show the research that we do at Manchester, but through interviewing invited speakers we can communicate research from the UK planetary community as a whole. Currently the channel has over 1200 views since its launch in February; however, popular science YouTubers are able to reach millions of people worldwide. At present there is a gap in planetary sciences content, as such I’m keen to fill this gap to show off the cool science the UK does. Through the UKPF, we have an opportunity to further promote UK planetary science by reaching a much wider audience. I also have experience in organizing meetings which are relevant for helping to organize the UKPF conference and sessions at NAM. I am on both the local and science organizing committees that are running the European Lunar Symposium this May in Manchester. I also have also run sessions at EGU in the past. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope you will consider me as a new UKPF co-chair member.
Ever since doing my undergraduate degree in Geology with Science Communication, I have been passionate about promoting planetary science amongst other scientists and the general public. As such, I feel that I would be a good candidate to sit on the UKPF committee. I regularly take part in the outreach activities run by the cosmochemistry group at the University of Manchester. This year I have also launched a YouTube channel called Earth and Solar System, where we host a weekly podcast (The Cosmic Cast) about all aspects of planetary science. The aim being to not only show the research that we do at Manchester, but through interviewing invited speakers we can communicate research from the UK planetary community as a whole. Currently the channel has over 1200 views since its launch in February; however, popular science YouTubers are able to reach millions of people worldwide. At present there is a gap in planetary sciences content, as such I’m keen to fill this gap to show off the cool science the UK does. Through the UKPF, we have an opportunity to further promote UK planetary science by reaching a much wider audience. I also have experience in organizing meetings which are relevant for helping to organize the UKPF conference and sessions at NAM. I am on both the local and science organizing committees that are running the European Lunar Symposium this May in Manchester. I also have also run sessions at EGU in the past. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope you will consider me as a new UKPF co-chair member.
