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2013 Forum Award Recipients Announced

Recipients of the Forum’s Joseph A. Burton and Leo Szilard Lectureship Awards for 2013 have been announced. The Burton Award is given to recognize outstanding contributions to the public understanding or resolution of issues involving the interface of physics and society. The recipient for 2013 is Jeremy Bernstein (Emeritus, Stevens Institute of Technology) “For his important contributions to public understanding of the physics of nuclear policy and for his graceful and subtle explanations of modern science in his books and articles over many decades.” The Leo Szilard Lectureship Award is given to recognize outstanding accomplishments by physicists in promoting the use of physics for the benefit of society in such areas as the environment, arms control, and science policy. The 2013 recipient of this award is Geoffrey West of the Santa Fe Institute“For path-breaking work on the origin of universal biological scaling laws and quantitative models for structural and functional design of organisms, and for theoretical insights about the long-term sustainability of cities.” P&S extends congratulations to Drs. Bernstein and West on their well-deserved recognitions, and thanks the members of the selection committee for their work: Peter Zimmerman, Arian Pregenzer, and Siegfried Hecker.

The deadline for nominations for the 2014 Burton and Szilard Awards is July 1, 2013. More information on Forum prizes and awards.

New Fellows Elected through the Forum

Forum members Robert Bari, Mitra Dutta, and Arian Pregenzer were elected to APS Fellowship at the November, 2012, APS Council meeting through FPS nomination. Bari (Brookhaven National Laboratory) was recognized for his many contributions to nuclear power reactor safety, security, and proliferation resistance, including major contributions to probabilistic risk assessment and to methods for analyzing proliferation resistance of complex nuclear systems. Dutta (University of Illinois, Chicago) is being recognized for her research leadership and administration in government and academia, through which she has supported applications of physics for society, outreach to the public, and enhancement of physics education. Pregenzer (Sandia National Laboratories; recipient of the 2012 Forum Burton Award) was recognized for her leadership in advancing arms control monitoring and verification technologies and for establishing and leading international scientific cooperation for arms control and international security. These new Fellows and the recipients of the Burton and Szilard awards will be recognized at the Forum Awards session at the April meeting in Denver (see below). It is not too early to think about nominees for next year; the deadline is June 1, 2013.

Richard Wiener joins P&S Editorial Board

We welcome Richard Wiener, a program officer at Research Corporation, as the newest member of P&S’s editorial board. Richard, who is just wrapping up a three-year term as a member of the FPS Executive Committee, replaces Barbara Levi, who rotated off the board in late 2012. Richard earned a BA in philosophy at UC-Berkeley, and a PhD in physics at the University of Oregon.

FPS to Host Sessions at APS March Meeting

The annual March meeting of the APS will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center from March 18 –22, 2013. FPS is hosting three sessions; tentative lists of speakers and some presentation titles are given here. Not all details of Forum-sponsored sessions were available at press time, and are subject to change.

Tuesday March 19, 2013, 8:00 AM

The Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing
Session Organizer and Chair: Richard Wiener (Research Corporation for Science Advancement)
Co-Sponsored by FPS and the APS Group on Energy Research and Applications (GERA).
Hydraulic fracturing uses pressurized fluid to propagate fractures. Its use for hydrocarbon recovery has economic benefits, but also potential environmental impacts. The session will focus on the underlying physics to better understand this issue.

Speakers:
Susan Burden (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Murray Hitzman (Colorado School of Mines)
Francis O’Sullivan (MIT)
Robert Jackson (Duke University; invited).

Wednesday March 20, 2013, 11:15 AM

American Science and America's Future
Session organizer and chair: Pushpa Bhat (Fermilab)
How can the US maintain its competitive edge in science and innovation? This session will address issues in scientific research, science education, science & technology policies, S&T workforce development, and impacts on industry and economy.

Speakers:
Rep. Rush Holt (U.S. House of Representatives)
Shirley Jackson (President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; invited)
Subrah Suresh (Director, National Science Foundation; invited)
Sheldon Glashow (Boston University)

Thursday March 21, 11:15 AM

Science in the New Administration
Session Chair: Micah Lowenthal (National Academy of Sciences)
The new administration, coming in to office in January 2013, will mark a fresh start in science policy. The session will explore the plans and directions for science policy over the coming four years.

Speakers:
William Brinkman (DOE) Science and the National Agenda
Robert Jaffe (MIT) Science Informing Policy in the New Administration
William Colglazier (U.S. Department of State)
Patricia Falcone (US Office of Science and Technology Policy; invited)
David Goldston (Natural Resources Defense Council)

FPS to Host Sessions at APS April Meeting

The annual April meeting of the APS will be held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, Denver, CO, April 13-16, 2013. FPS is sponsoring six sessions; tentative lists of speakers and some presentation titles are given here. Not all details of Forum-sponsored sessions were available at press time, and are subject to change.

Saturday April 13, 10:45 AM

FPS Awards Session
Session organizer and chair: Pushpa Bhat (Fermilab)
Jeremy Bernstein (Stevens Institute of Technology); Burton Forum Award
Geoffrey West (Santa Fe Institute); Szilard Lectureship Award

Saturday April 13, 3:30 PM

Physicists as Science Advisors
Session organizer and chair: Micah Lowenthal (National Academy of Sciences)
Physicists play important roles in providing science advice. In this session, physicists who have served in advisory capacities will discuss topics, challenges, and careers in advising the US government on science aspects of policy questions.

Speakers:
Tony Fainberg (Institute for Defense Analysis) Physicists as Science Advisors
Steve Fetter (University of Maryland)
Valerie Thomas (Georgia Institute of Technology) Science Advice at the EPA
John Morgan: Science Advice at the Department of Defense

Sunday April 14, 10:45 AM

Low Carbon Electricity
Session organizer and chair: Valerie Thomas (Georgia Institute of Technology)
Co-Sponsored by FPS and the APS Group on Energy Research and Applications (GERA)
This session will address technologies and system approaches for low carbon electricity generation in the U.S.

Speakers:
Arun Majumdar (University of California, Berkeley) Sustainable energy
Trieu Mai (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Renewable electricity futures
Christiana Honberg (Arizona State University) Advances in Solar Energy

Sunday April 14, 1:30 PM

Low Carbon Transportation
Co-Sponsored by FPS and the APS Group on Energy Research and Applications (GERA)
The focus of this Invited Session is to present the main scientific and policy challenges to achieving low-carbon transportation.

Speakers:
Session Chair and Organizer: Ellen Stechel (Sandia National Laboratories)
Michael Tamor (Ford Motor Company) Electricity as a Transportation Fuel
Jane Davidson (University of Minnesota) Solar Thermo Chemical Approaches for the Production of Transportation Fuels
Todd West (Sandia National Laboratories) Biofuels and Technology/Policy Trade-offs for Light Duty Vehicles

Monday April 15, 3:30 PM

Speakers:
Lisa Randall (Harvard University)
Saul Perlmutter (University of California, Berkeley)

Tuesday April 16, 1:30 PM

Technical Aspects of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Session organizer and chair: Micah Lowenthal (National Academy of Sciences)
In this session, scientists will describe recent developments in science and technology for monitoring nuclear explosions using radionuclide detection, seismology, and satellite technology.

Speakers:
Ted Bowyer (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Status and Challenges of Radionuclide Detection for Detecting Nuclear Explosions
Raymond Willeman (IRIS - Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) Seismic Detection of Nuclear Explosions.
Randy Bell (National Nuclear Security Administration) Research for Detecting Nuclear Explosions Using Other Phenomena

These contributions have not been peer-refereed. They represent solely the view(s) of the author(s) and not necessarily the view of APS.