<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><br class=""><br class=""></span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Dear Colleagues,</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Your ASAP is again alive and active to defend and advocate for the Arecibo Observatory!</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">In this Newsletter, we will—</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> —Give the results of the recent Board election and the status of the committee formation</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> —Preview the new series of presentation/discussions on new Arecibo instruments</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> —Update you on ASAP Advocacy/Outreach activities, some of which please join!</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><b class="">ASAP Board Election and Committee Formation</b></span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">As many of you will be aware, ASAP members were invited to nominate colleagues for </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">the ASAP Board as well as giving suggestions for committee members. Your suggestions </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">were assembled and potential nominees contacted to make sure they were willing to serve </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">on the new Board. ASAP members were then invited to vote on the slate of Board nominees </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">during the third week of July, and the participation was remarkably high for this high summer </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">timing. </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The results of the election are then as follows—</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> —Radio Astronomy: Héctor Arce and Robert Minchin</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> —Planetary Science: Anne Virkki and Michael Nolan</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> —Atmospheric Science: Eliana Nossa Gonzalez and Eframir Franco-Diaz</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">These new electees will be joined by three continuing members of the old Board who will </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">serve a further year to assist with the transition: Amy Lovell, Brett Isham and </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Joanna Rankin</span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">.</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Annual elections are then planned of three Board members to three-year terms. </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>In addition, three colleagues have volunteered to represent for standing committees on </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">the Board: Nicole Lloyd-Ronning, Advocacy/Outreach Committee; Natalia Lewandowska,</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Admin/Infrastructure Committee; and Mayra Lebron, Puerto Rico Liaison Committee.</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>PLEASE NOTE: The committees as well as the AO 2.0 Committee are in the early stages </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">of formation and all need energy, ideas and assistance. Please write to <a href="mailto:lloydronning@unm.edu" class="">Nicole</a> if you could help </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">with Advocacy/Outreach, <a href="mailto:nlewandowska@posteo.net" class="">Natalia</a> for Admin/Infrastructure, and <a href="mailto:mlebronsantos3@gmail.com" class="">Mayra</a> for the PR Committee. In </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">particular, </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Admin/Infrastructure</span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> needs help with: </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">—designing/managing its website </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">—membership development and management</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">—social media outreach</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">—establishing ASAP’s organizational legal and financial </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">structures </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">If you are interested in the AO 2.0 Committee, please participate in the series of “lunchtime” </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">presentation/discussions that started last week with AO Director Francisco Cordova. Further </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">events in this series will be announced shortly. </span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><b class=""><br class=""></b></span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><b class="">AO 2.0 Presentation/Discussion series</b></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="">ASAP is planning a series of “lunchtime” presentations/discussion to continue the discussions </span></span></div><div class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 14px;">began during the NSF Arecibo Futures Workshop in June about new instruments for Arecibo. The </span></div><div class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 14px;">first talk by NAIC Director Francisco Cordova attracted about 100 participants and was very well </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="">received (A summary of the talk is attached below, and the full talk can be </span><span class="">). Further </span></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="">events will be announced shortly that will follow directly from the NSF Workshop </span><span class="">but now give the </span></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="">presenters time for more detailed presentations and participants opportunity for questions </span><span class="">and </span></span></div><div class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 14px;">comments.</span></div><div class=""><span class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">The next event is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 2nd by </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">Michael C. Nolan (</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">Former Arecibo </span></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" class="">Observatory Director and Planetary Radar Head)</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class=""><b class="">Title:</b> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><i class="">Arecibo 2.0: The Legacy Instrument is the </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><i class="">Prototype (NSF Workshop Team 18 report). </i></span></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">Summary: </b></span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">A new telescope based on the Legacy </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">Arecibo design, applying lessons learned over </span></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">57 years of operation, is likely the fastest and </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">least expensive option to regain full scientific </span></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">productivity and meet the scientific goals of the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">community.</span></span><span class="" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></div><div class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 14px;"><b class="">Zoom Link: </b>Will be announced 24-48 hours before the event.</span></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" class="">
<div class="">
<div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><b class=""><br class=""></b></span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><b class="">Update on Advocacy/Outreach Committee Activities</b></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The ASAP advocacy and outreach committee has led and taken part in various activities this </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">summer. Below we give a summary of these activities. <b class=""><i class="">You can multiply these efforts by joining </i></b></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><b class=""><i class="">in the Congressional letter-writing </i></b></span><b style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><i class="">campaign below in your Congressional district.</i></b></div><div class=""><b style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><i class=""><br class=""></i></b></div><div class=""><span class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 14px;"><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• <b class="">American Institute of Physics (AIP) Venture Fund proposal:</b> At the beginning of June </div><div class="">we submitted a pre-proposal to the <a href="https://www.aip.org/aip/member-benefits/venture-fund" class="">AIP Venture fund</a> with the goal of funding an outreach and <br class="">advocacy campaign focused on the Arecibo Observatory. For this, we partnered with <a href="https://www.budpr.org/" class="">Boricuas </a></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.budpr.org/" class="">Unidos en la Diaspora (BUDPR)</a>, a national advocacy organization which builds bridges between </div><div class="">Puerto Rican civil society and federal lawmakers through an educative, academic and social </div><div class="">justice lens. The main goals of this project will be to develop and implement a consensus-based </div><div class="">outreach plan to decision-makers that advocates for the Observatory’s future and expands on its </div><div class="">unmatched legacy of fostering world-class science and scientists. We were invited to send a full </div><div class="">proposal, which we submitted in mid-July. We are waiting to hear on the decision of our AIP Venture </div><div class="">fund proposal. <br class=""></div><br class=""><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• <b class="">Letter writing campaign to Congresspeople:</b> We started a letter writing campaign </div><div class="">towards the end of June to urge Congress to provide funds for the design and construction of </div><div class="">a new Arecibo telescope. The Senate had just passed the US Innovation and Competition Act <br class="">(known as the Endless Frontier Act in Congress), which included funding for various STEM <br class="">activities that were conducted by the legacy Arecibo telescope and would be conducted with <br class="">a new telescope. We asked ASAP members and Arecibo Observatory supporters to write <br class="">letters to their representatives (<a href="https://www.cienciapr.org/es/forum-topic/aboga-por-el-observatorio-de-arecibo-ante-el-congreso-de-eeuu-contact-us-congress-and" class="">see here</a>). It is still not too late to write to your representatives <br class="">as the bill has yet to be discussed in Congress. We urge all Arecibo supporters to help with <br class="">this. An example letter and instructions on how to contact your representative can be found <br class=""><a href="https://www.cienciapr.org/es/forum-topic/aboga-por-el-observatorio-de-arecibo-ante-el-congreso-de-eeuu-contact-us-congress-and" class="">here</a>. <br class=""></div><br class=""><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• <b class="">Congressional Briefing:</b> In collaboration with <a href="https://www.budpr.org/" class="">Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora (BUDPR)</a> </div><div class="">we organized a congressional briefing titled Arecibo 2.0 and Science Competitiveness. The <br class="">briefing was conducted by a panel of three: Héctor Arce (representing ASAP and the <br class="">Coalition Radio Scientists from Puerto Rico), Francisco Cordova (director of the Arecibo <br class="">Observatory), and Carlos Padín (former chancellor of the Ana G Mendez University in <br class="">Puerto Rico and PI of Education and Outreach Programs at the Arecibo Observatory). The <br class="">briefing was moderated by Frances Colón (a Science, Diplomacy and Policy expert). The <br class="">briefing was sponsored by the offices of Reps. Nydia Velázquez (NY), Rosa DeLauro (CT) <br class="">and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT). Francisco mainly talked about the Next Generation <br class="">Arecibo Telescope concept and how this proposed telescope would help the US maintain <br class="">its leadership in space situational awareness, planetary defense, radio astronomy, and <br class="">planetary science. Héctor discussed the scientific, educational and cultural importance <br class="">of the Arecibo Observatory to Puerto Rico, the U.S. and the world. Carlos talked about <br class="">the education and outreach programs at the observatory and their importance for promoting <br class="">STEM education in Puerto Rico. After the panel members spoke, there was a questions <br class="">and answers session. The briefing was attended by about 20 congressional aides from <br class="">different offices. <br class=""></div><br class=""><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>• <b class="">AAS Special Sessions:</b> We submitted proposals for two Special Sessions to be held <br class="">at the upcoming January AAS meeting in Salt Lake City. The first, entitled <b class=""><i class="">The Arecibo <br class="">Observatory REU Program - a Career Launchpad</i></b>, will focus on the legacy of AO’s <br class="">unparalleled REU program. It will feature talks by former AO REU students, spanning <br class="">a wide range of career stages and research areas, about their current research, education <br class="">and/or outreach efforts, and about how their AO REU experiences shaped their career <br class="">paths. It will also feature a video of AO REU alumni reflecting on their experiences <br class="">(including many who work outside astronomy and/or have left academia and would have <br class="">not otherwise been able to participate). The second, entitled <b class=""><i class="">The Arecibo Observatory, <br class="">An Engine For Science and Scientists In Puerto Rico And Beyond</i></b>, will begin with a <br class="">short talk by Francisco Cordova on the status of AO Education and Public outreach. We <br class="">will then transition to a panel discussion, including Carlos Padin, Noemi Pinilla-Alonso, <br class="">Abniel Machin, and Kevin Ortiz Ceballos, on the broader impact of the AO Education and <br class="">Outreach and prospects for the future. The sessions are co-organized by Nicole Lloyd-Ronning, <br class="">Marcel Agüeros, and Anil Seth.<br class=""></div><br class=""><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• <b class="">AAS Plenary Talk:</b> We nominated Hector Arce to give a plenary talk at the upcoming AAS <br class="">meeting in Salt Lake City in January, with a focus on the Arecibo Observatory, its scientific <br class="">impact, and its importance to astronomy in Puerto Rico and worldwide. The AAS accepted <br class="">and invited Hector to be one of the <a href="https://aas.org/meetings/aas239/speakers" class="">featured plenary speakers</a> at the upcoming AAS meeting.</div></span></span></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Best regards and wishes,</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">ASAP Secretary</span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="gmail_quote"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>