Speaker:Professor Francis Nimmo from University California Santa Cruz

Title: "Geophysics of Pluto"

Abstract: Three years ago, the New Horizons spacecraft returned the first close-up images of Pluto and Charon. In this talk I will discuss what we have learned since then about Pluto's interior and evolution. Topics to be covered include: Does Pluto have a subsurface ocean? Did it experience true-polar wander?  What do its surface geology, shape and density tell us about its history?

Short bio: Francis Nimmo received his BA in Geological Sciences from Cambridge University in 1993, and his PhD from the same institution in 1996. He was a Junior Research Fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge and a Royal Society University Research Fellow at University College London. In 2005 he joined the faculty at UC Santa Cruz and in 2007 he received the Urey Prize from the Division of Planetary Sciences and the Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union. He has participated in the GRAIL, Cassini and New Horizons spacecraft missions, as well as the forthcoming Europa Clipper.