astronomy

Virgil L. Sharpton

Virgil L. Sharpton is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Virgil L. Sharpton rather than just read about it. In short: Virgil L. (Buck) Sharpton is the Associate Director for Science at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, Texas.

Key takeaways

Virgil L. Sharpton belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Virgil L. Sharpton to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Virgil L. Sharpton from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Virgil L. (Buck) Sharpton is the Associate Director for Science at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, Texas. Prior to joining the LPI in 2011, he was Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). He is also the founder and former director of the Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) which provides access to university data and information services across the state.

Education Sharpton earned a B.S. with high honors in Geology at Grand Valley State University in 1979 and a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at Brown University in 1981 and 1984, respectively.

Career After receiving his Ph.D. in Geological Sciences, from 1984 to 1986 Sharpton was a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Post Doctoral Fellow for the Geological Survey of Canada. He became a Senior Staff Scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute affiliated with the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and served there for 14 years. He joined the faculty at the UAF in 1998 with a joint appointment between the Geophysical Institute and the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the College of Natural Science and Mathematics and was awarded tenure in 2000. In 2001 he was awarded one of the six presidential professorships across the University of Alaska system and held the title of President's Professor of Remote Sensing. In May 2005 he was named Vice Chancellor for Research at the UAF. As Vice Chancellor for Research, he assisted the Chancellor in setting the research agenda at the university. He managed the Center for Research Services, Geophysical Institute, International Arctic Research Center, Office of Electronic Miniaturization, Institute of Arctic Biology, and various research programs. Sharpton also served as the university representative to the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS), Inland Northwest Research Alliance (INRA), and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). Sharpton worked closely with several government agencies in developing new uses for satellite remote sensing and information management and led the data retrieval and management activities of the State Committee on Research (SCoR). He worked through the Governor's Office to identify ways that the capabilities centered at the university could be utilized more effectively within state agencies. He became a member of Governor Sarah Palin’s Climate Change Sub-Cabinet and sat on a variety of NASA review panels as well as state and local advisory boards. He joined the LPI in November 2011 and in June 2012 became its Associate Director for Science.

Awards and honors In addition to being awarded the President's Professorship at the UAF, his honors include

Tulip City Rock and Mineral Club Award (1979) William F. Malar Scholarship (1981–1984) Government of Canada Group Achievement Award (1992) NASA Group Achievement Award (1992) Geophysical Institute Director's Faculty Achievement Award (2001) AmericaView's Legacy Award for leadership (2006)

References

External links Virgil Sharpton’s Profile in the Lunar and Planetary Institute Scientific Staff Directory

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Virgil L. Sharpton

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Virgil L. Sharpton claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Virgil L. Sharpton before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Virgil L. Sharpton ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Virgil L. Sharpton

In research: Virgil L. Sharpton appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Virgil L. Sharpton in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Virgil L. Sharpton is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American planetary scientists, Brown University alumni, Grand Valley State University alumni, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Virgil L. Sharpton outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Virgil L. Sharpton in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Virgil L. Sharpton means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Virgil L. Sharpton out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Virgil L. Sharpton in simple terms?

Virgil L. (Buck) Sharpton is the Associate Director for Science at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, Texas.

Why does Virgil L. Sharpton matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Virgil L. Sharpton?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Virgil L. Sharpton.