Planetary Systems Laboratory

Dr. Amy Simon-Miller

Planetary Systems Laboratory
NASA/GSFC, Code 693.0
Greenbelt, MD 20771

Phone: (301) 286-6738

Email: Amy Simon-Miller

Current Position

Chief, Planetary Systems Laboratory Solar System Exploration Division Goddard Space Flight Center

Education

Ph.D. in Astronomy, New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM; December 1998.
M.S. in Astronomy, New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM; December 1996.
B.S. in Space Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL; June 1993 (highest honors).

Professional Experience

Chief, Planetary Systems Laboratory (693.0), NASA's GSFC Mar. 2008 - present
Astrophysicist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center July 2001-present

Cassini CIRS Co-Investigator: science planning, sequence design and data analysis.

Jovian planet atmospheres: dynamics, structure and composition, temporal evolution.

Mission concept studies.

Informal education and public outreach.

Program Associate/Instructor, University of Maryland College Park     2002-2004
Colleg Park Scholars: Science, Discovery and the Universe

Research Associate, Cornell University      1999-2001

Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, New Mexico State University      1993-1998

NSF Undergraduate Research Assistant, Florida Institute of Technology      1991-1993

Grant Awards:

Principal Investigator: NASA Education & Public Outreach for Earth & Space Science Program (EPOESS), NRA-ROSES06: "Solar System on a Sphere."

Principal Investigator: NASA Planetary Atmospheres Program, ROSES07: "Jupiter's Evolving Clouds and Atmospheric Vertical Structure."

Co-Investigator: NASA Cassini Data Analysis Program, ROSES07: "Two-dimensional photochemical modeling of Saturn's stratosphere using constraints from Cassini CIRS data."

Principal Investigator: GSFC Internal R&D Award 2008: "New Frontiers Mission to Enceladus"

Principal Investigator: GSFC Internal R&D Award 2007: "Icy Moon Mission Concept"

Co-Investigator: NASA Cassini Data Analysis Program, ROSES06: "Trace Species on Saturn."

Principal Investigator: NASA Outer Planets Research Program, ROSS04: "Oscillations in Jupiter's Equatorial Atmosphere."

Principal Investigator: NASA Planetary Atmospheres Program, ROSS03: "Comparative Planetology of Jupiter and Saturn."

Large Observing Programs:

Principal Investigator: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 16 DD/GO11498, "2008 Passage of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Oval BA."
Co-Investigator: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 15 DD/GO11310, "Jupiter's North Temperate Belt Disturbance."
Co-Investigator: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 15 DD/GO11096, "Hubble Heritage imaging of Jupiter during the New Horizons encounter."
Principal Investigator: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 14 DD/GO10783, "Rapid Response: Jupiter's White Oval Turns Red."
Co-Investigator: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 7 DD/GO8405, "Hubble Heritage Observations of Jupiter."
Co-Investigator: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 7 GO/CAR7616, "Rapid Response to Anomalous Activity in Jupiter's Atmosphere."
Co-Investigator: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 7 GO7445, "Study of Jovian Dynamics by Combining Global and Temporal HST Observations with Galileo Data."
Co-Investigator: Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 6 GO6452, "Global and Temporal Coverage of Atmospheric Regions Selected for Intense Galileo Observations."

Awards and Honors:

2007 NASA GSFC Space Science Achievement Honor Award

2005 NASA Group Achievement Award, JIMO SDT

2004 NASA GSFC LEP Peer Award

2003-2007 NASA GSFC Performance Awards

2002 NASA GSFC Special Act Award

1998 NMSU Astronomy Department Zia Award (Research)

1997 Dr. Barry N. Rappaport Endowed Scholarship (Research and Service)

1996 New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Fellowship

1993-1996 Commission on Higher Education Graduate Student Fellowship

1993 Florida Tech Student Employee of the Year, Technical Field

1993 Florida Tech Outstanding Senior

1991 Florida Tech Outstanding Junior

1989-1993 Florida Tech Academic Achievement Awards, Physics and Space Sciences

1989-1993 Florida Tech Astronaut Scholarship

1989 Bausch and Lomb Science Award

1989 U.S. Air Force Academy Appointment and Vice-Presidential Nomination

Professional Committees, Service and Outreach:

NASA Titan Flagship Mission Phase II Study, Science Definition Team (2008)

NASA Enceladus Flagship Mission Concept Study, SDT Co-Chair (2007)

Scientific Organizing Committee, NASA Planetary Atmospheres Conference (2007)

JPL $1B Box Study, Enceladus Science Definition Team (2006)

DPS Committee (2005-2008)

AAS Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (2001-2007)

Outer Planet Assessment Group Steering Committee (2005-2007)

DPS Program Committee (2002)

NASA Planetary Data System Management Oversight Working Group (2002-2005)

Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter (JIMO) Science Definition Team (2003-2005)

NASA Review Panels / Panel Chair: Planetary Astronomy, Planetary Atmospheres, ADP/LTSA, and Outer Planets Research Program

Journal manuscript peer reviewer for Icarus, JGR-Planets, Astronomy and Astrophysics

AAS International Travel Grant Review Committee (2003)

AWIS Educational Foundation Fellowship Review (2003)

Hubble Space Telescope Cycles 14 and 17 Solar System Review Panel

VLA/GBT proposal reviewer (2006-2007)

Selected Publications

2008 Cheng, A. F., A. A. Simon-Miller, H. A. Weaver, K. H. Baines, G. S. Orton, P. A. Yamanadra-Fisher, O. Mousis, E. Pantin, L. Vanzi, L. Fletcher, J. R. Spencer, S. A. Stern, J. T. Clarke, M. J. Mutchler and K. S. Noll. Changing Characteristics of Jupiter's Little Red Spot. AJ 135, 2246-2452.

2008 Dyudina, U. A., A. P. Ingersoll, S. P. Ewald, A. R. Vasavada, R. A. West, A. Del Genio, J. Barbara, C. C. Porco, R. Achterberg, F. M. Flasar, A. A. Simon-Miller, L. N. Fletcher. Dynamics of Saturn's South Polar Vortex. Science 319, 1801.

2008 Fletcher, L. N., P. G. J. Irwin, G. S. Orton, N. A. Teanby, R. K. Achterberg, G. L. Bjoraker, P. L. Read, A. A. Simon-Miller, C. Howett, R. de Kok, N. Bowles, S. B. Calcutt, B. Hesman, F. M. Flasar. Temperature and Composition of Saturn's Polar Hotspots and Hexagon. Science 319, 79-81.

2008 Fouchet, T., S. Guerlet, D. F. Strobel, A. A. Simon-Miller, B. Bezard, F. M. Flasar. Spatial evidence for an equatorial oscillation on Saturn. Nature 453, 200-202.

2008 Sanchez-Lavega, A., G. S. Orton, R. Hueso, E. Garcia-Melendo, S. Perez-Hoyos, A. Simon-Miller, J. F. Rojas, J. M. Gomez, P. Yanamandra-Fisher, L. Fletcher, J. Joels, J. Kemerer, J. Hora, E. Karkoschka, I. de Pater, M. Wong, N. Pinilla-Alonso, F. Carvalho, C. Go, D. Parker, M. Salway, M. Valimberti, A. Wesley and Z. Pujic. Depth of the strongest Jovian Jet from a Planetary-Scale Disturbance driven by storms. Nature 451, 437-439.

2007 Simon-Miller, A. A., B. Poston, G. S. Orton and B. Fisher. Wind Variations in Jupiter's Equatorial Atmosphere: A QQO Counterpart? Icarus 186, 192-203.

2007 Baines, K. H., A. A. Simon-Miller, G. S. Orton, H. A. Weaver, A. Lunsford, T. W. Momary, J. Spencer, A. F. Cheng, D. C. Reuter, D. E. Jennings, G. R. Gladstone, J. Moore, S. A. Stern, L. A. Young, H. Throop, P. Yanamandra-Fisher, B. M. Fisher, J. Hora, M. E. Ressler. New Horizons at Jupiter: Discovery of Polar Lightning and Decadal-Scale Cloud Variability. Science 318, 226-228.

2007 Howett, C., P. Irwin, N. Teanby, A. A. Simon-Miller, S. Calcutt, L. Fletcher and R. de Kok. Meridional variations in Stratospheric Acetylene and Ethane in the Southern Hemisphere of the Saturnian Atmosphere as Determined from Cassini/CIRS Measurements. Icarus 190, 556-572.

2007 Nixon, C., R. Achterberg, B. Conrath, P. Irwin, N. Teanby. T. Fouchet, P. Parrish, P. Romani, M. Abbas, A. LeClair, D. Strobel, A. A. Simon-Miller, D. Jennings, F.M. Flasar and V. Kunde. Meridional Variations of C2H2 and C2H6 in Jupiter's Atmosphere from Cassini CIRS Infrared Spectra. Icarus 188, 47-71.

2007 Reuter, D. C., A. A. Simon-Miller, A. Lunsford, K. Baines, A. F. Cheng, D. E. Jennings, C. B. Olkin, J. R. Spencer, S. A. Stern, H. A. Weaver, and L. A. Young. Jupiter Cloud Composition, Stratification, Convection and Wave Motion: A View from New Horizons. Science 318, 223-225.

2006 Simon-Miller, A. A., N. J. Chanover, G. S. Orton, M. Sussman, I. Tsavaris and E. Karkoschka. Jupiter's White Oval Turns Red. Icarus 185, 558-562.

2006 Simon-Miller, A. A., B. J. Conrath, P. J. Gierasch, G. S. Orton, R. K. Achterberg, F. M. Flasar and B. Fisher. Jupiter's Atmospheric Temperatures: from Voyager IRIS to Cassini CIRS. Icarus 180, 98-112.