ONLINE – General Meeting – March

6:30 pm – Main Presentation

Title:  Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics in the 2020’s:  The Astro2020 Decadal Survey 

Presentation:  Every 10 years Congress charges the National Academy of Sciences with undertaking a survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics over the coming decade.  The “Astro2020 Survey”, carried out by a main survey committee and roughly a dozen expert sub-panels, identified the most compelling scientific questions to be addressed, and recommended a comprehensive strategy by the National Science Foundation ( NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)  and the Department of Energy (DOE) to address those objectives.  This survey—in which several Arizona astronomers participated—also fully addressed, for the first time, the state of the astronomy profession and its societal impacts.  Dr. Kennicutt’s talk will cover some of the highlights from the report (released last November), followed by time for questions and discussion.

Bio:  Robert Kennicutt studies observational extragalactic astronomy, and holds part-time faculty positions at Steward Observatory and Texas A&M University.  He has worked at the University of Arizona since 1988, with a break in 2005-2017 to serve as the Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the Royal Astronomical Society, the American Astronomical Society, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.  Along with Fiona Harrison at Caltech, he co-chaired the Astro2020 Decadal Survey.