Final Announcement — September 2011
Purpose and Scope
The First International Planetary Cave Research Workshop is a follow-up to the 2008 Lava Tube Workshop held in Grant, New Mexico, which brought together researchers with interests in lava tubes from diverse backgrounds, ranging from image analysis to modeling to robotics.
This workshop is the first in a continuing series of meetings that are intended to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas between planetary and terrestrial scientists interested in cave exploration and research across the solar system. In recognition of the broad scope, interdisciplinary nature, and strong international interest in this topic, the participation of any interested scientist with relevant theoretical, experimental, or field experience is strongly encouraged.
The workshop will incorporate oral and poster presentations as well as extended discussion dispersed around a one-day field trip to local caves. The workshop will bring together researchers with interests in planetary caves from diverse backgrounds in image analysis, modeling, and terrestrial analog studies. A small group setting will facilitate intensive discussion of problems and issues in an attempt to identify the most promising approaches to understanding these cave systems and to develop a collaborative interdisciplinary research agenda.
Meeting Location and Date
The First International Planetary Cave Research Workshop: Implications for Astrobiology, Climate, Detection, and Exploration will be held October 25–28, 2011, at the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, 400-1 Cascades Avenue, Carlsbad, NM 88220 USA (phone: 575-887-5518). The workshop will also include a one-day field trip.
Meeting Schedule
The online program is now available. Notification letters will not be mailed out, so authors should check the author index provided for their assigned method of presentation and time slot.
Information for Presenters
Oral presentations are scheduled to allow 15 minutes for speaking and 15 minutes for discussion. Discussion will be encouraged during and after each presentation. To maximize discussion time and keep the meeting on schedule, presenters should limit their presentations to 20 slides or less.
Audio-visual equipment for oral presentations will be limited to a single LCD projector and a PC laptop computer. All speakers with electronic presentations must provide their presentation to Dr. Tim Titus the morning of your presentation. The use of personal laptop computers will be permitted (and is preferred for Mac users). Speakers using Macs must provide their own adapters. You may bring your presentation on a CD-ROM or USB memory drive to use with the meeting room computer.
Poster presentations will be on display throughout the entire week of the conference. Posters may be installed beginning on Tuesday morning, October 25, at 8:00 a.m., and may remain up through Friday, October 28, at 1:00 p.m. Any posters left after this time will be discarded; posters will not be mailed to presenters. Poster display space available to authors is 44" x 44" (1.1 m x 1.1 m).
Field Trip Information
On Wednesday, October 26, participants will take a field trip to Carlsbad Caverns. A shuttle will leave the National Cave and Karst Research Institute at approximately 8:30 a.m. All participants are requested to plan to ride the shuttle.
On Friday, October 28, meeting attendees whose travel plans permit the time are invited on an informal hike following the adjournment of the workshop. The hike will be to the Permian Trail in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. This trail is a pleasant ascending hike through some magnificent examples of Permian reef life forms. Although the entire trail is four miles long (eight miles round trip), splendid fossil examples abound and participants can see them by hiking much shorter segments of the trail.
More detailed information about the field trip and the post-workshop hike will be communicated as soon as the final details are arranged.
Accommodations
Participants are responsible for making their own travel arrangements and hotel reservations. For your convenience, a list of area hotels is provided along with their distance from the workshop venue.
Registration
| Through September 23, 2011 | $325.00 professionals; $275.00 students |
| September 24–October 11, 2011 | $375.00 professionals; $325.00 students |
No onsite registration will be available.
Credit card registrations: Participants registering by credit card MUST use the secure electronic registration form.
Other methods of payment: Those registering using any other method of payment (check, money order, traveler’s check, or wire transfer) must contact the LPI Meeting Registrar for detailed instructions.
Note: We now have a third-party payment page available. Participants required to register using a third party (e.g., SATERN for NASA civil servants) may still register in advance using the electronic registration form. The confirmation
e-mail you receive after registering will include payment instructions to submit to the third party. Please be aware, however, that your registration will not be considered complete until the funds have been received.
Cancellations: Requests for cancellation with a fee refund (less a $25.00 processing fee) will only be accepted through October 11, 2011. Those who fail to attend and do not notify the LPI prior to the October 11 deadline will forfeit their full fee.
Contacts
For further information regarding the scientific content of the meeting:
Dr. Timothy N. Titus
USGS Astrogeology Science Center
Phone:928-556-7201
E-mail: [email protected]
For further information regarding meeting logistics:
Kira Honnoll
Meeting and Publication Services
Universities Space Research Association (USRA)/
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Phone: 281-244-2011
E-mail: [email protected]
For further information regarding abstracts or registration:
Linda Tanner
Meeting and Publication Services
Universities Space Research Association (USRA)/
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Phone: 281-486-2142
E-mail: [email protected]
Schedule
| Deadline for registration at reduced rate | September 23, 2011 |
| First International Planetary Cave Research Workshop: Implications for Astrobiology, Climate, Detection, and Exploration in Carlsbad, New Mexico | October 25–28, 2011 |
