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Meetings
Announcing our 2009 Keynote Speaker
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The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Jill Cornell Tarter, one of the world's most prominent radio astronomers, as Keynote Speaker for our 2009 annual meeting and technical conference at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Green Bank, WV. Dr. Tarter, who holds the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA, received her Bachelor of Engineering Physics Degree with Distinction from Cornell University, and her Master's Degree and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley. She served as Project Scientist for NASA's SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey, and has conducted numerous observational programs at radio observatories worldwide. Since the termination of funding for NASA's SETI program in 1993, she has served in a leadership role to secure private funding to continue the exploratory science. Currently, she serves on the management board for the Allen Telescope Array, a joint project between the SETI Institute and the UC Berkeley Radio Astronomy Laboratory. When this innovative array of 350 6-m antennas begins operations at the UC's Hat Creek Radio Observatory, it will simultaneously survey the radio universe for known and unexpected sources of astrophysical emissions, and speed up the search for radio emissions from other distant technologies by orders of magnitude.
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Tarter's work has brought her wide recognition in the scientific community, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, two Public Service Medals from NASA, Chabot Observatory's Person of the Year award (1997), Women of Achievement Award in the Science and Technology category by the Women's Fund and the San Jose Mercury News (1998), and the Tesla Award of Technology at the Telluride Tech Festival (2001). She was elected an AAAS Fellow in 2002 and a California Academy of Sciences Fellow in 2003. In 2004 Time Magazine named her one of the Time 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2005 Tarter was awarded the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization at Wonderfest, the biannual San Francisco Bay Area Festival of Science.
Tarter is deeply involved in the education of future citizens and scientists. In addition to her scientific leadership at NASA and SETI Institute, Tarter has been the Principal Investigator for two curriculum development projects funded by NSF, NASA, and others. The first, the Life in the Universe series, created 6 science teaching guides for grades 3-9 (published 1994-96). Her second project, Voyages Through Time, is an integrated high school science curriculum on the fundamental theme of evolution in six modules: Cosmic Evolution, Planetary Evolution, Origin of Life, Evolution of Life, Hominid Evolution and Evolution of Technology (published 2003). Tarter is a frequent speaker for science teacher meetings and at museums and science centers, bringing her commitment to science and education to both teachers and the public. Many people are now familiar with her work as portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact.
In addition to SARA members, this 2009 Keynote Presentation will be open to all NRAO personnel. See the 2009 conference Abstracts for an overview of Dr. Tarter's planned presentation.
At our 2009 gathering, Jill Tarter will be helping SARA to celebrate our club's 28th Anniversary. Members and guests are invited to participate in our annual Conference. If you would like to present a paper yourself, please see our Call for Papers.
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