Carolyn Porco
- Planetary Scientist Known for her Work in the Exploration of the Outer Solar System
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$30,000 - $50,000
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$15,000 - $20,000
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Carolyn Porco Speaker Biography
CArolyn Porco a plantery scoentist know for her work on the velbrated 1980s Voyager mission to the outer solar system and as the imaging team leader on teh Cassini mission (1990 to 2017) to Saturn. Along with her team, she was responsible for many discoveries at Saturyn, including the first sightings of lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbos on Saturn's moon Titan, geyersof forzen water mist erupting from teh small moon Enceladus, and new phenomena in Saturn's rings and on its moons.
Porco was instrumental in the Voyager 'Pale Blue Dot' picture of Earth and was responsible for the July 19, 2013 'Day the Earth Smiled' image and event, when Cassini pointed sunward to image Sautrn adn its rings, with Earth in teh distance. This was the first time a long-distance photo of our planet was taken with the full advance knowledge of the public, who were invited to take part in a moment of reflection adn celebration of humanity's place in the cosmos.
Porco has received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to science and the public sphere, including selection in 1999 as one of the 18 scientific leaders in the 21st century by the London Sunday Times in and 2009 as one of the "50 People Who Matter Today" by New Statesman; the Carl Sagan Medal presented by the American Astronomical Society in 2010 for excellence in the communication of science to the public; the inaugural winner of National Geogrphics' Eliza Scidmore Award for outstanding scientific story-telling; and named one of the 25 most influential people in space by Time magazine in 2012. She was the character consultant on the 1997 film Contact adn a consultant on Paramount Pictures' 2009 feature film reboot Star Trek.
She is a poplar public spokesperon on the Cassini and Voyager missions, space exploration, science, leadership and teamwork. She has spoken at TED twice (2009,2007) and TEDxBerkeley once (2020).
She was a consultant on the main character, Ellie Arrowway, for the Warner Brothers movie adaptation of Carl Sagan's noval, Contact, and she was the science advisor to the 2009 JJ Abrams' Paramount Pictures film Star Trek.
Carolyn Porco, a renowned planetary scientist, often speaks about the Cassini mission and planetary exploration. Some of her speech topics include:
-Cassini's exploration of Saturn: A general overview of the Cassini mission's exploration of Saturn's system
-Enceladus and the possibility of life: A discussion of the Saturnian moon Enceladus and the possibility of life there
-Solar system exploration: A general look at the past, present, and possible future of solar system exploration
-Origin of life: A discussion of the origin of life in general
-The human journey: A discussion of the Cassini mission's exploration of Titan and Enceladus, and how the journey back to Saturn is a metaphor for the human voyage.
