Schedule Sunday, October 16th 7:00pm: Reception (Appetizers and Drinks) Mansion at Judges Hill (website) Map & Parking (pdf) 1900 Rio Grande Blvd., (512) 495-1800 Monday, October 17th 8:45: Welcoming Statements Mary Ann Rankin, Dean, College of Natural Sciences Don Winget, Chair, Department of Astronomy   Session I, ACES 2.302 - Judit Györgyey Ries, Chair, bio 9:00-9:40: Asteroids, Kuiper Belt Objects, Comets, Satellites and the Formation of Our Solar System Scott Sheppard, Carnegie DTM abstract   bio 9:40-10:20: What do Multiple Planet Systems Teach Us About Planet Formation? Eric Ford, Berkeley abstract   bio 10:20-11:00: Coffee & Posters, ACES 2.402 11:00-11:40: Massive Star Formation: A Tale of Two Theories Mark Krumholz, Princeton abstract   bio 11:40-12:20: Probing Chemistry During Star and Planet Formation Jackie Kessler-Silacci, UT abstract   bio 12:20-2:00: Lunch* & Posters *includes a 1 hour Q&A session with postdoc speakers and graduate students   Session II, ACES 2.302 - Michael Siegel, Chair, bio 2:00-2:40: Disks Around Young Stars Christine Chen, NOAO abstract   bio 2:40-3:20: Local Interstellar Medium Seth Redfield, UT abstract   bio 3:20-4:00: Coffee & Posters, ACES 2.402 4:00-4:40: Large-scale Structures in the ISM Naomi McClure-Griffiths, ATNF abstract   bio Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) studies have undergone a renaissance in the past ten years due in part to new large-scale surveys of the Galactic ISM. New surveys of neutral hydrogen (HI), in particular the Canadian and Southern Galactic Plane Surveys, excel because of their exceptional spatial dynamic range, combining single-dish and interferometer data for arcminute resolution imaging over areas of many degrees. These surveys are allowing us to probe the physics of the global ISM in more detail than ever before. Among the largest and most energetic discrete objects observed in the ISM are HI supershells and chimneys. These objects play a pivotal, though not fully understood, role in the Galactic ecosystem. They heat and reshape the ISM on scales of hundreds of parsecs, making them a significant source of structure and energy input. HI supershells also provide convenient locations for energy dissipation on small scales. For example, instabilities that develop along the dense swept-up walls may be sites of cooling and molecular cloud formation. Understanding this transition from the hot-ionized gas presumably filling the interior of shells, to the warm neutral medium of the outer walls, to the cold neutral medium along the small-scale instability created features, and finally to molecular gas is crucial to understanding the evolution of the ISM. I will present data from the Southern Galactic Plane Survey with spatial dynamic range of 200 to 1, which allow us to study the complicated physics of supershell evolution and to resolve the majority of the ISM life-cycle in individual objects. 4:40-5:40: Panel Discussion 5:40-6:30: Posters, Informal Discussion 7:30pm: Conference Dinner at Fonda San Miguel Map & Parking (pdf) 2330 W. North Loop, (512) 459-4121 Tuesday, October 18th   Session III, ACES 2.302 - Martin Landriau, Chair, bio 9:00-9:40: Stellar Abundances: Recent and Foreseeable Trends Carlos Allende-Prieto, UT abstract   bio 9:40-10:20: Black Holes Jon Miller, Univ. Michigan abstract   bio 10:20-11:00: Coffee & Posters, ACES 2.402 11:00-11:40: Jets and Accretion in Microquasars and in AGN Sera Markoff, MIT abstract   bio 11:40-12:20: Galactic Chemical Evolution Yeshe Fenner, CfA abstract   bio 12:20-2:00: Lunch* & Posters *includes a 1 hour Q&A session with postdoc speakers and graduate students   Session IV - Niv Drory, Chair, bio 2:00-2:40: The N-body Approach to Disk Galaxy Evolution Victor Debattista, Univ. Washington abstract   bio 2:40-3:20: Galaxy Formation Eric Gawiser, Yale abstract   bio 3:20-4:00: Coffee & Posters, ACES 2.402 4:00-4:40: Lyman-alpha Forest as a Cosmological Probe Matteo Viel, IoA abstract   bio 4:40-5:40: Panel Discussion 5:40-6:00: Concluding Remarks David Lambert, Director, McDonald Observatory Frank Bash, Professor, Department of Astronomy 6:00-6:30: Posters, Informal Discussion Evening: Informal "Night on the Town"