Dr. Shan de Silva, the Department Chair and Professor of the Space Studies department at the University of North Dakota, was the guest for this edition of The Space Show. Given Dr. de Silva's expertise in the subject of volcanism, I began the interview by asking him to clarify the role of earth-based volcanoes with global warming. Dr. de Silva provided us with a solid understanding of the role played by volcanoes and their impact on Earth's atmosphere and climate, and then he explained how this fits into the global warming discussion. We then proceeded to move away from Earth to discuss volcanoes around the solar system. This discussion included Jupiter's moon Io, Venus, and Mars. You will not want to miss this volcanic tour of the galaxy. In the second part of the program, Dr. de Silva explained the Space Studies Department at the University of North Dakota. He went into some detail with the on campus program as well as the distant learning program, the specialty interests of the faculty members, the application process and the strengths of the program. This also led us into a discussion of career and work prospects when graduating with an MA from the Space Studies Department. We also discussed the priority given the program for funding and related issues by the university, the state and the people of North Dakota. In the final segment of the show, we discussed various Mars analog training sites here on Earth, specifically in the Central Andes as the geology of this area has many similarities to geology on parts of Mars. We also discussed other analog sites on Earth and their usefulness. Dr. de Silva also runs VolcanoWorld, a premier web source for educational and other information about volcanoes. We discussed this site and specific sections of it, including the part devoted to volcanoes off-Earth. This particular website is http://volcano.und.nodak.edu. This was a most interesting program as we discussed a new topic for The Space Show, volcanism throughout the galaxy. I know you will find the program as interesting as I did. Dr. de Silva will return to The Space Show.
Guest
The Space Show
