Paul Drake, Steve Federman, Wick Haxton, Farid Salama and Daniel Savin (LAD Steering Committee)
You are invited to attend the inaugural gathering of the Laboratory Astrophysics Division (LAD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) during the 220th AAS meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, 10-14 June 2012. There LAD will convene several Meeting-in-a-Meeting sessions devoted to the interplay between laboratory astrophysics and other fields in astronomy and related sciences.
The first new AAS division in more than 30 years, LAD is the successor to the AAS Working Group on Laboratory Astrophysics, established in 2007. The transition to a full-fledged division was approved by the AAS Council at the 219th AAS meeting in Austin, Texas, in January 2012. LAD’s mission is to advance our understanding of the universe through the promotion of fundamental theoretical and experimental research into the underlying processes that drive cosmic evolution.
Among the special events planned in Anchorage is the Kavli Lecture opening the conference, which will be given by Prof. Ewine van Dishoeck (University of Leiden) on a topic relevant to the new division. Over the next four days a Meeting-in-a-Meeting entitled “Bridging Laboratory and Astrophysics” will feature 21 talks covering atomic, molecular, solid state, plasma, planetary, nuclear, and particle laboratory astrophysics, as well as an associated poster session.
To attend this event and support the new division, please visit http://aas.org/meetings/aas220 for registration and abstract-submission deadlines and guidelines. Please note that abstracts are due Thursday, 1 March 2012. Student participation is particularly encouraged. More information will soon follow on how to join the LAD and on other division activities.
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