Pasadena Annual Postdoc Retreat
24-26 April 2013


Goal The purpose of this retreat is to encourage interaction and collaboration between postdocs at the various Pasadena astronomical centers (Carnegie, Caltech, IPAC, and JPL) by bringing researchers from these institutions together in relaxing surroundings. The retreat will begin late afternoon on April 24th and close at noon on Friday the 26th. The program will include a mix of brief research talks by attendees and ample time for discussion and interaction, as well as more informal social gatherings.

Location The conference will be held at the beautiful UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center, which is a convenient 2 hour drive from Pasadena. Lake Arrowhead is a premier mountain resort in the San Bernardino Forest.
Transportation Transportation will not be provided. If you are planning to drive and have room in your car for other participants, or if you need a ride, please email Andreas Schruba (schruba at astro.caltech.edu). This information will be posted below.

Carpools available:

CAR 1 Vigeland (driver), Sesar, Rogers, Assef
CAR 2 Alatalo (driver), Kite, Bellm
CAR 3 N/A
CAR 4 Baranec (driver), Adams, Schruba
CAR 5 Muirhead (driver), Rice, Hinkel, Swift
CAR 6 N/A
CAR 7 Perley (driver), Tang, Cyr-Racine
CAR 8 N/A
CAR 9 de Putter (driver), Cody, Blanc
CAR 10 King (driver), Rich, Miller, Abdikamalov
Accommodations Lodging and meals will be covered by your host institution (see Registration section regarding JPL participants). The condolets at the conference center offer a queen size bed with bath downstairs and a second queen size bed with bath upstairs. A living room area with wood-burning fireplace is shared by two conferees, furthering after-hours conversation. All condolets have expansive decks with wonderful lake or forest views. If you currently have a roomate preference please specify it in the registration form. If you do not currently have a preference, once registration is closed (1 March) and we publish the list of participants and the current list of roommates please identify a postdoc with whom you would like to share a condolet, and email this information to Guillermo Blanc (gblancm at obs.carnegiescience.edu) by 10 March.

Meals Meals, snacks, and beverages will be provided. Dinner will be served on 24 April. Breakfast (buffet), lunch, and dinner will be provided on 25 April, and breakfast and lunch will be provided on 26 April. The conference center can accommodate most dietary requirements when arrangements are made in advance. Please specify in the registration form if you have special requirements.
Program
Wednesday 24 April
4:00pm - 5:00pm Check-in
5:00pm - 5:15pm Welcome, Announcements
5:15pm - 6:15pm Talks: Rafelski, Rudie, Schruba, Drahus, Harding, Rice
6:30pm - 8:00pm Dinner
8:00pm - 8:45pm Invited Talk: Leonidas Moustakas (JPL)
8:45pm - 10:00pm Social Hour(s)
Thursday 25 April
8:00am - 8:30am Breakfast
9:00am - 10:30am Talks: Cyr-Racine, de Putter, Scowcroft, Cody, Hinkel, Muirhead, Bellm, Baranec, Konidaris
10:30am - 11:00am Coffee Break
11:00am - 12:00pm Talks: Miller, Siegal-Gaskins, Adams, Newman, Hathi, Rodriguez
12:00pm - 1:00pm Lunch
1:00pm - 2:15pm Talks: Tang, Rogers, Kite, Abdikamalov, Perley, Moesta, Horesh
2:15pm - 2:30pm Coffee Break
2:30pm - 3:15pm Invited Talk: Cynthia Hunt (CH Tech Consulting): "Freelancing in Industry"
3:15pm - 6:30pm Free time
6:30pm - 8:00pm Dinner
8:00pm - 8:45pm Invited Talk: Andrew Benson (Carnegie Observatories): "So you wanna get a job....?"
8:45pm - 10:00pm Social Hour(s)
Friday 26 April
8:00am - 8:30am Breakfast
9:00am - 10:30am Talks: Diaz-Santos, Shporer, Viero, Rettura, Rich, Blanc, Sesar, Tibbs, Vigeland
10:30am - 11:00am Coffee Break
11:00am - 12:00pm Talks: Alatalo, Assef, King, Pullen, Galley, Shen
12:00pm Check-out time
12:00pm - 1:00pm Lunch
1:15pm - 1:35pm Talks: Swift, Moncelsi
1:35pm - 2:15pm Discussion Session and Retreat Summary
2:30pm Drive to Pasadena
Talks All participants are expected to give an informal, 5 minute presentation of their research, please submit a title and short abstract by 10 March to Ann Marie Cody (amc at ipac.caltech.edu). Abstracts can be found here.

We will also have a small number of invited speakers who will give talks regarding matters relevant to the postdoc comunity like career advice, the academic job market, and the transition to industry.

Confirmed invited speakers:

- Andrew Benson (Carnegie Observatories)
- Leonidas Moustakas (JPL)
- Cynthia Hunt (CH Tech Consulting)


Registration Registration Deadline: 1 March 2013 (or earlier if all spaces are filled)

Registration is now closed. As we must pay for the venue in advance, cancellations will not be accpeted after 1 March and no shows will still be charged to the participant's institution. Registered participants who do not attend must excuse themselves to the Director of their corresponding institution.

Participants Abdikamalov, Ernazar (Caltech)
Adams, Joshua (Carnegie)
Alatalo, Katherine (IPAC)
Assef, Roberto (JPL)
Baranec, Christoph (Caltech)
Bellm, Eric (Caltech)
Benson, Andrew (Carnegie)
Blanc, Guillermo A. (Carnegie)
Cody, Ann Marie (IPAC)
Cyr-Racine, Francis-Yan (JPL)
de Putter, Roland (JPL)
Diaz-Santos, Tanio (IPAC)
Drahus, Michal (Caltech)
Galley, Chad (Caltech)
Harding, Leon (Caltech)
Hathi, Nimish (Carnegie)
Hinkel, Natalie (IPAC)
Horesh, Assaf (Caltech)
Hunt, Cynthia (CH Tech Consulting)
King, Oliver (Caltech)
Kite, Edwin (Caltech)
Konidaris, Nick (Caltech)
Miller, Sarah (Caltech)
Moncelsi, Lorenzo (Caltech)
Moesta, Phillip (Caltech)
Moustakas, Leonidas (JPL)
Muirhead, Philip (Caltech)
Newman, Drew (Carnegie)
Perley, Daniel (Caltech)
Pullen, Anthony (JPL)
Rafelski, Marc (IPAC)
Rettura, Alessandro (Caltech)
Rice, Melissa (Caltech)
Rich, Jeffrey (Carnegie)
Rodriguez Gonzalvez, Carmen (IPAC)
Rogers, Leslie (Caltech)
Rudie, Gwen (Carnegie)
Schruba, Andreas (Caltech)
Scowcroft, Vicky (Carnegie)
Sesar, Branimir (Caltech)
Shen, Yue (Carnegie)
Shporer, Avi (Caltech)
Siegal-Gaskins, Jennifer (Caltech)
Swift, Jon (Caltech)
Tang, Sumin (Caltech)
Tibbs, Christopher (IPAC)
Viero, Marco (Caltech)
Vigeland, Sarah (JPL)