Gemini staff contribution
Gemini Assistant Scientist
Awarded the 2017
Carl Sagan Medal
Gemini Observatory assistant scientist Meg Schwamb is this
year’s recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public
Communication in Planetary Science.
Each year, the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society
(AAS) awards the Carl Sagan Medal to recognize and honor outstanding communication
by an active planetary scientist whose efforts have significantly contributed to a public
understanding of, and enthusiasm for, planetary science. This year’s recipient is Gemini Ob-
servatory astronomer Meg Schwamb. Meg will receive the medal in October at the Division
of Planetary Sciences’ annual meeting hosted in Provo, Utah.
Schwamb is being honored for her involvement
in the creation and development of new tools
used to facilitate planetary science communica-
tion, including online citizen science projects via
the Zooniverse platform — such as identifying
planet transits in data from NASA’s Kepler mission
(Planet Hunters), as well as mapping the locations
and sizes of surface features on the Martian South
Pole produced by carbon dioxide jets in images
taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
(Planet Four and Planet Four: Terrains). Schwamb
July 2017
GeminiFocus
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