UA News

Larry A. Lebofsky, senior research scientist with the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, is being awarded the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communications in Planetary Science for 2000.

The Carl Sagan Medal is bestowed annually by the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society to recognize and honor outstanding communication by an active

planetary scientist to the general public. The DPS, with a membership of about 1200, is the nation's largest organization of professional scientists solely devoted to exploring the planets and other bodies of the solar system.

Lebofsky has a long history of dedication to education and public outreach about a wide

range of planetary science topics. His outreach activities engage many audiences at various levels of interest. He has helped produce classroom activities that span kindergarten through high school and beyond. He has worked to reach the adult population through public lectures and community science courses on the solar system. In 1990, he initiated a program known as Project ARTIST (Astronomy-Related Teacher In-Service Training) to educate elementary and secondary teachers in astronomy. To date, he is responsible for the training of over 4000 teachers with hands-on demonstration experiments related to solar system science.

Lebofsky earned a bachelor 's degree in astronomy in 1969 from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. He received his doctorate in Earth and planetary sciences in 1974 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. After working at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for two years as a national research council resident research associate, he began working for the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) at the UA in 1977. He has been associated with LPL continuously since that time.

Lebofsky's scientific research areas include studies of planetary surfaces, composition of asteroids and satellites, visible and infrared observations of asteroids and satellites and laboratory studies of frosts and minerals. Asteroid 3439 Lebofsky was named in his honor. He is a member of many professional societies, including the DPS, the International Astronomical Union, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the Meteoritical Society, the American Geophysical Union, Sigma Xi, the National Science Teachers Association, the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science, The Association of Astronomy Educators, the Council for Elementary Science International, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the International Dark Sky Association.

Lebofsky also has served on many NASA and professional committees that promote planetary science education. He is education director for the San Juan Institute/Planetary Science Institute and the president-elect of the Arizona Science Teachers Association. Since 1997 he has served as the DPS Education Officer.

The Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science, established in 1997 by the DPS and presented at its annual meeting, is named in honor of the late Carl Sagan of Cornell University, an outstanding scientist who, through public lectures, TV series, and books, significantly contributed to a public understanding of and enthusiasm for planetary science.

Recipients of the DPS 2000 Harold C. Urey Prize and the DPS 2000 Gerard P. Kuiper Prize will be announced, respectively, on Monday, Dec. 6, and Monday, Dec. 20. The DPS Meritorious Service Award, the Carl Sagan Medal, and the two DPS Prizes all will be formally awarded at the 2000 meeting of the DPS, to be held Oct. 23-27, 2000, in Pasadena, Calif.