DUE DATE: December 18, 2025
Objective: To prepare for active participation at the NASA Ices Workshop
The following exercises are designed to stimulate thought and engagement with relevant topics and to generate questions that will lead to further investigation during and after the Workshop. We are not attending this workshop as tourists. Our intention is to participate and contribute to the workshop experience. This requires preparation.
The Ices in the Solar System workshop covers a vast array of environments, from the poles of Mercury to the frozen heart of Pluto. You cannot focus on everything. Your first task is to define your territory.
Instructions:
Identify a specific solar system segment or theme of interest to you (e.g., Cryovolcanism on Enceladus, Dwarf planets in the solar system, Instrumentation for icy worlds) by visiting and searching through the Ices 2026 Technical Program
Search for 2-3 abstracts within the Ices 2026 program that relate to your chosen topic
For each abstract, identify and summarize the key research question being asked. What is the unknown they are trying to solve?
Next visit the LPI database of past abstracts and search for 2-3 additional abstracts related to the theme you have chosen and do the same. It can be accessed here.
Reference five abstracts in total in MLA format.
Conferences are driven by people.The value of this workshop lies in the opportunity to interact with the luminaries who are pushing planetary science forward. Ask questions, discuss their research, and discover what a possible path might look like for you in the future.
In the previous iteration of this workshop, we focused on Jim Garvin (NASA Goddard). For Ices 2, we are opening the floor. Identify the people you want to meet.
Instructions:
Browse the Technical Program or the Author Index. Identify one presenter or attendee whose work aligns with your interests.
Do not pick a random name. Pick someone whose abstract made you stop and think.
Do Your Homework: Research this person.
Where do they work? (JPL? APL? A university?)
What missions have they been involved in? (New Horizons? Europa Clipper? VIPER?)
What was the focus of their abstract from Exercise 1?
Draft Questions:
Write down two questions that intersect with this researcher's specific work and your own curiosity.
A good question shows you have read their work. A bad question is something you could have googled.
Example (Bad): "Is there ice on Mars?"
Example (Good): "Your abstract mentions using radar to detect subsurface brines. What if the salinity levels are higher than expected? How would that alter the interpretation of the radar return signal?"
Refine your questions so that you would be comfortable asking it during a Q&A session or a coffee break.
Using the form below submit a short report indicating what your theme is and why it interests you, your chosen abstracts, summaries and references, followed by your researcher questions in a single document.
Outline:
