This year, the online edition of the EuroPlanet Science Congress (EPSC) Goes Live for Schools programme consists of seven open lectures, offered from mid-October to mid-November. We have an exceptional line-up of inspirational planetary scientists, who will be sharing their knowledge and passion for STEM with students from across the globe! Thanks to the online format, we are able to offer this unique opportunity to many students who were not able to travel to Spain for the in-person programme, held in September.
Please see full programme below:
LECTURE 1
Date: Wed 19/10
Time: 10:00 CEST
Topic: Mars ancient history and modern exploration
Speakers: Beatrice Baschetti and Catherine Regan
Language: English
Recommended Age: 12-14 years
About the Speakers:
Beatrice Baschetti: "I got my MSc in Astronomy and Astrophysics and I am now a PhD student at University of Padua, Italy. I study Mars' surface composition to understand the planet's early climate and its evolution."
Catherine Regan is a PhD student based at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London. Here she studies planetary induced magnetospheres, and uses data from satellites such as Mars Express. Before her PhD, Catherine studied BSc Environmental Geophysics at the University of East Anglia and started her career focused on Earth. She did not think she was 'clever enough' to go into space, as she didn't study astronomy or physics, but she followed her passion and now works on Mars!
LECTURE 2
Date: Monday 24/10
Time: 16:00 CEST
Topic: Astrobiology and the remote icy moons
Speakers: Jaume Puig and Léa Bonnefoy
Language: English
Recommended Age: to be announced
About the Speakers:
Jaume Puig: "I am a Biomedical Engineer with experience in synthetic biology and biology in "extreme" environments. I currently work on DNA repair mechanisms enhancement for cellular survival in extreme conditions at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park. I believe that the first step on space exploration is knowing ourselves. Additionally, I am an iGEM Ambassador for Europe and Global Alliance of SynBio Associations working group member at iGEM Community."
Léa Bonnefoy: "I'm a French planetary scientist, but I did half of my studies in the US. I study mostly Saturn's moons, including the ice of Iapetus and the sand dunes of Titan."
LECTURE 3
Date: Friday 28/10
Time: 15:00 CEST
Topic: Planetary science is interdisciplinary: the case study of Mars
Speakers: Federica Duras and Danna Jaimes
Language: English
Recommended Age: 12-14 years
About the Speakers:
Federica Duras: "I have a master's degree in astronomy and astrophysics and a doctorate in physics. I am responsible for dissemination and teaching for the Institute of Space Astrophysics and Planetology in Rome, as editor for the online magazine EduINAF and I am currently the Chair of the Europlanet Society Outreach Working Group."
Danna Jaimes: "I'm a geology student from Universidad Industrial de Santander, in Colombia. Also, I'm a visiting scholar at Blue Marble Space and Astrobiology Instructor at Art Of Inquiry, where I teach and do research in fields related to astrobiology, planetary geology and geochemistry."
LECTURE 4
Date: Wednesday 2/11
Time: 15:00 CET
Topic: Why study the Sun and its activity?
Speakers: Dorcas Dupe Oseni and Lennart R. Baalmann
Language: English
Recommended Age:to be announced
About the Speakers:
Dorcas Dupe Osen: "I'm a master's student of Space Geophysics at the National Institute of Space Research (INPE), Brazil, and I am originally from Nigeria. I am passionate about Space education and communication, especially for minorities in the Space field. Besides science, I enjoy listening to classical music and playing the violin."
Dr Lennart R Baalmann is an astrophysicist, currently working at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. He graduated with a Master's degree in 2018 and gained his PhD in Theoretical Astrophysics in 2022, both at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. In his theses, he focused on astrospheres, the interaction regions of stars with their environments, primarily by numerical modelling. His current research includes interstellar dust within the heliosphere, which is the astrosphere of the Sun.
LECTURE 5
Date: Monday 7/11
Time: 10:00 CET
Topic: Field work and space missions: complementary approaches
Speakers: Roberto Orosei and Akos Kereszturi
Language: English
Recommended Age:to be announced
About the Speakers:
Roberto Orosei: Currently staffed as Senior researcher at the Istituto di Radioastronomia in Bologna (Italy), I have worked in other Italian research institutes and at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. I have a MSc in astrophysics and a PhD in engineering, thus contributing both to the design and operation of remote sensing experiments aboard space missions (mostly radar) and to the analysis and scientific interpretation of their data.
Akos Kereszturi is a planetary scientist at Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute (Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary), and also at the European Astrobiology Institute, Strasbourg, France. His expertise is in solid surface planetary science, including geomorphology, mineralogy, petrography, as well as laboratory analysis of meteorites and analogue materials. He is active in field work at Mars analogue terrains (Atacama desert, Morocco, Tunisia, Arctic Canada, USA desert terrains), he is working on astrobiology aspects and planetary mission design also.
LECTURE 6
Date: Thursday 10/11
Time: 15:00 CET
Topic: Will we mine small moons and asteroids?
Speaker: Sean Hsu
Language: English
Recommended Age:to be announced
About the Speaker:
Dr H-W Sean Hsu is a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder. He has been a participating scientist of the Cassini mission, leading in situ exploration of Saturn’s rings during the final Grand Finale mission. He is currently working on topics related to the inner solar system airless bodies (Moon and asteroids) and planetary ring-moon systems through model simulation and data analysis. In addition to his work, he also enjoys photography and backyard astronomy.
LECTURE 7
Date: Thu 17/11
Time: 16:00 CET
Topic: Working in the laboratory to understand space and planets
Speakers: Giovanni Poggiali and Camilo Jaramillo-Correa
Language: English
Recommended Age:to be announced
About the Speakers:
Giovanni Poggiali is an astrobiologist and planetary scientist with a PhD obtained from the University of Firenze (Italy) in collaboration with the INAF-Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri (Firenze). Actually he is Postdoctoral Research Fellow of CNES in the LESIA laboratory at the Observatoire de Paris (France). He is Co-I of MIRS instrument, an infrared spectrometer for the new JAXA MMX mission aiming to explore the moon of Mars. He is also collaborating with several space mission team: NASA OSIRIS-REx sample return mission exploring and sampling the surface of asteroid Bennu, NASA Mars2020 Perseverance looking for sign of life in the Jezero crater, an ancient delta river on Mars and DART-LICIACube, the first planetary protection mission.
Camilo Jaramillo-Correa: "Hi! I am a PhD student in Nuclear Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. I study how the solar wind modifies the minerals on the surface of asteroids (a process called Space Weathering), by simulating solar wind and characterising minerals in the laboratory. I was born in Colombia, where I got my bachelors in Engineering Physics from Universidad EAFIT, before moving to the US to pursue a career in research. I got a MSc in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I worked on creating nanostructured surfaces for bioengineering applications. When I'm not doing research, I like playing with my cat, drawing, cross-stitching and hanging out with my friends."