About the event
Agenda
Friday, September 25, 2026
9:00 AM–9:20 AM — Committee arrival/ Coffee
Welcome, Opening Remarks
9:20 AM–9:25 AM — Review Sign In (Tiana Faulcon); Review Agenda and Activities (Louise Edwards)
CAA Report Out
9:25 AM–9:45 AM — John O'Meara and Rachel A. Osten, CAA Co-Chairs
9:45 AM–10:00 AM — Q&A
10:00 AM–10:30 AM — Break
Agency Topical Conversations (NSF)
10:30 AM–10:35 AM — AST Chris Smith + Luca Rizzi (ORI)
10:35 AM–10:55 AM — Monya Ruffin, EDU Directorate Head
10:55 AM–11:15 AM — Michael Cavagnero, PHY Section Head
11:15 AM–11:35 AM — Jean Cottam, CORF Deputy Directorate Head for Polar Programs
11:35 AM–12:00 PM — Q&A/General Discussion / Panel of the NSF speakers
Break (Lunch)
12:00 PM–1:00 PM — Lunch
Joint DOE+NASA Topics
1:00 PM–1:20 PM — Joel Kearns, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, NASA SMD
1:20 PM–1:40 PM — Stuart Bale, NASA PI and Project Lead
1:40 PM–2:00 PM — Anze Slosar, Brookhaven National Labs DOE PI and Scientific Collaboration Lead
2:00 PM–2:20 PM— Q&A/General Discussion
Agency Topical Conversations (DOE)
2:20 PM–2:40 PM — Ping Ge, Director of Workforce Devleopment for Teachers and Sceintists
2:40 PM–2:55 PM — Q&A/General Discussion
Agency Topical Conversations (NASA)
2:55 PM–3:15 PM — Amy Kaminski, SMD Engagements Branch Chief
3:15 PM–3:35 PM — Jessica Gaskin, AD for Concept and Technology Development, ASTRA workshop
3:35 PM–3:55 PM — Q&A/ General Discussion
3:55 PM–4:15 PM — Break
4:15 PM–4:25 PM — Public Comment Period
Work on "themes" Finalized topics for 2027 Report
4:25 PM–5:00 PM — Committee + Agency discussion
5:00 PM — Adjourn
About the series
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee is a federal advisory committee chartered under the "Federal Advisory Committee Act," which resulted from one of the primary recommendations of the Presidential Committee on the Organization and Management of Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The purpose of this meeting is to provide advice and recommendations to the U.S. National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on issues within the field of astronomy and astrophysics that are of mutual interest and concern to the agencies. The committee will hear presentations on current programming by representatives from NSF, NASA, DOE and other agencies relevant to astronomy and astrophysics; discuss current and potential areas of cooperation among the agencies; and formulate recommendations for continued and new areas of cooperation and mechanisms for achieving them. The meeting will be recorded for note-taking purposes only and will not be distributed.
For additional assistance with accessibility and reasonable accommodations, contact rarequest@nsf.gov or call 703-292-8020 to request support. Please contact NSF at least 14 days before your meeting or event date for sessions lasting one day or less and 30 days in advance for sessions lasting two or more consecutive days to allow sufficient time to coordinate arrangements.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed by guest speaker(s) are those of the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.
