A Brief Observation

Looking around the session I’m currently sitting in (Mars: Pingos, POlygons and other Puzzles), there’s one big thing I’m noticing. This conference has a much larger student to grey-hair ratio. In fact, I see very few true grey-hairs. There are certainly professionals and teachers of all ages… but not so many (relatively speaking) of the classic grey-haired, balding white man that seems to be in the majority at conferences like AAS.

Does this mean solar system science is a “younger” field? Or is it merely a reflection on the differences in cost between registration here versus registration at AAS?

Additionally, I’ve noticed this is a much more casual conference. There are very, very few suits, but lots of polos and plain tshirts. Lots of running shoes (”sneakers” as Americans keep telling me they’re called) and plain flats. AAS was much more formal - everyone was wearing a suit. Here, Pamela in her suit jacket appears to be slightly overdressed.

There are lots of students here, many of whom appear to be younger than the students I saw at AAS. Maybe not - maybe I’m just noticing that the students too are clearly students. They dress more casually than their accompanying adult. In my collared shirt and plain black pants, I fit nicely in the middle - neither over-dressed nor wearing a tshirt with an image on it.

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