University of Western Ontario Announces New Collaborative Graduate Program in Planetary Science

The Departments of Earth Sciences and Physics and Astronomy at the University of Western Ontario announced a new collaborative Graduate Program in Planetary Science. It is hoped that this will be the first of many such programs in Canada. Details of the program can be found here:

http://aquarid.physics.uwo.ca/planetsci/grad_program.htm.

With over 20 faculty involved in the Planetary Science Research Group(PSRG) at Western, there are many areas of study to choose from. Our focus is on 6 main research fields:

Planetary Surfaces
Planetary Interiors
Planetary Atmospheres
Cosmochemistry
Astrobiology
Planetary Dynamics/Astronomy.

Some specific available projects include:

Earliest signs of life on
Earth and Mars, Supervisor: Dr. Neil R. Banerjee.
MSc or PhD. [neil.banerjee@uwo.ca]

Spacecraft trajectory
analysis near Mars' small moon Phobos, Supervisor:
Dr. Paul Wiegert. MSc. [pwiegert@uwo.ca]

Observational determination
of asteroid properties, Dr. Paul Wiegert. MSc and
PhD.

Theoretical study of
meteoroid stream dynamics, Dr. Paul Wiegert. MSc
and PhD.

Impact crater lakes on Earth
and Mars, Supervisor: Dr. Gordon Osinski. MSc or
PhD. [gosinski@uwo.ca]

Isotopic dating and
microstructural analysis of impact processes and planetary evolution using
terrestrial and lunar samples. Supervisor: Dr. Des
Moser. [desmond.moser@uwo.ca]

Impact cratering processes
on the Moon through the study of Lunar meteorites and terrestrial analogues, Supervisors: Dr. Gordon Osinski and Dr. Des Moser. MSc or PhD.
[gosinski@uwo.ca]

Planetary atmospheres, with
emphasis on Earth's middle atmosphere using lidar (laser radar), Supervisor: R. J. Sica. MSc or PhD projects. [sica@uwo.ca]

If you have any questions contact:

Dr. Gordon "Oz" Osinski

Assistant Professor, Depts. of Earth Sciences, Physics & Astronomy

Deputy Director, Planetary Science Research Group

University of Western Ontario

1151 Richmond Street

London, ON, N6A 5B7

Tel: 1-(519)-661-4208 (office)

Tel: 1-(519)-437-9251 (cell)

Fax: 1-(519)-661-3198

E-mail: gosinski@uwo.ca

Website: http://www.uwo.ca/earth/people/faculty/osinski.html