December 6, 2010

Hi everyone,

You've made it to the last week of classes! There are a couple of announcements I want to make before you head out for winter break.

Meet with John Mather: This Thursday, the Department is hosting John Mather, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics (2006) and the Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. There will be a special undergraduate meeting with Dr. Mather on Thursday, December 9 at 2:30pm in Phys/Astr C520. Snacks will be provided and you are all encouraged to attend!

Grad School inquiries: The Department occasionally gets requests from other graduate programs to provide a list of students interested in hearing from someone at their Department. Due to confidentiality we do not give out student information, however if you would like to be added to a list that is given out after such requests please send me a quick note saying it's OK.

2011 Undergraduate Pacific Physics and Astronomy Conference: The UPPAC this year is the first week of March. UPPAC is grounded in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at Simon Fraser University. It will feature talks from some of the provinces top physicists in conjunction with talks from students like you. UPPAC presents a great opportunity to meet other physics students, share your research, and learn about other universities in the Pacific region. What's more, You can expect that registration will be less than $30 for a full two days of physics phun (travel and accommodation not included).

If you're interested in attending you should check out our website at www.sfupsa.com/uppac (which is still under construction) and join the facebook event at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=167231903300915.

Please let me know if you are interested in attending this conference. If there is enough interest we may be able to pull together some Departmental funding to rent a van!

Astro Lunch: Tuesday at Noon in Phys/Astr B356A, Evan Kirby (Hubble Fellow at Caltech) will give a talk on "The Chemical Evolution of Dwarf Satellite Galaxies from Keck/DEIMOS Multi-Element Abundance Measurements ". Feel free to bring your lunch!

Astrobiology Seminar: This Tuesday at 2:30pm in Phys/Astr A118, Mark Skidmore (Montana State) will give a talk on "The (sub)glacial biosphere, microbial activity at zero degrees Celsius and below."

Astronomy Colloquium: Please join us on Thursday at 4pm in Phys/Astr A102 for John Mather's talk on the "Capabilities of JWST". Coffee, tea and cookies are served at 3:45pm in the foyer. Attend the last colloquium of the quarter!

Have a great last week of the quarter!

Sarah