A number of members of PVL just completed a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia to attend the annual TEPS Summer Skills Series, organized by Catherine Neish and Christa Van Laerhoven. My trainees tell me they did a wonderful job and reported a very intellectually exciting and collaborative time out west. I asked Alex (4th from right in the first row) to weigh in on his experiences at the conference.
By Alex Séguin
On May 29th, 2018, seven members of PVL participated in the NSERC CREATE Technology for Exoplanetary Science(TEPS) Summer Skills Conference at the University of British Columbia. The workshop brings together young researchers involved in planetary science, exoplanetary science, and space instrumentation to encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations and to expose students of one field to two other complementary ones. Spanning the course of three days, the event offered us six keynote speakers and gave TEPS trainees an opportunity to present their latest research and receive feedback from their peers. This summer, PVL’s presence consisted of Paul (PDF), Christina (PDF), Jake (PhD), Giang (PhD), Charissa (MSc), Brittney (MSc), and myself, Alex (UG).
As students preparing ourselves to pursue a career in the space sector, it is always encouraging and helpful to observe established individuals already successful in the field. Such were TEPS’ keynote speakers, who not only showed us the type of work they perform, but also shared some useful tips on how to find our place in the industry. The first presenter was Dr. Jani Radebaugh (Brigham Young University) who discussed the significance of using Earth as a planetary analog and common pitfalls when doing so. She used geomorphological features found within the Solar System as examples; Sometimes, features are comparable while other times they only share a similar cosmetic appearance.
