LESLIE ANN YOUNG
Southwest Research Institute
SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS
Energetics and dynamics of atmospheres in the outer solar system.
Surface-atmosphere interaction.
Pluto and Triton.
Stellar and UVS occultations.
EDUCATION
M. I. T.
(Dr. James L. Elliot, advisor)
Ph. D., Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Bulk properties and atmospheric structure of Pluto and Charon.
1990-1994
Harvard University
A. B., Physics
1983-1987
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Senior Research Scientist
Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO
2002-present
Research Scientist
Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO
2001-2002
Postdoctoral researcher
Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO
1999-2001
Senior research associate
Center for Space Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA
1998-1999
Research associate
Center for Space Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA
1996-1998
National Research Council Fellow NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
1994-1996
Post-doctoral associate
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
1994
Research assistant
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
1990-1994
Technical support staff
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
1987-1989
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Lecturer - Radiative Processes in Astrophysics - Boston University
Spring 1999
Doctoral Thesis Committee Member for Jeffrey Foust - M.I.T.
1998
Undergraduate Thesis Committee Member for Jason Cook - Boston University
1999
Undergraduate Research Project Supervisor for Jason Cook - Boston University
1997-1999
Teaching assistant - Observational Techniques of Optical Astronomy - M.I.T.
1992, 1993
FELLOWSHIPS
Physical models of the Pluto-Charon System
NRC Research Associateship
1994-1996
SPACECRAFT EXPERIENCE
New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission
Deputy Project Scientist and Co-I
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
American Geophysical Union
American Astronomical Society, Division for Planetary Sciences
2001-present
LESLIE ANN YOUNG
Southwest Research Institute
SERVICE ACTIVITIES (SELECTED)
NSF Planetary Atmospheres Panalist, Outer Planets and Satellites, 2004.
Perkins Telescope Allocation Committee, Boston University proposals, 1998-1999.
Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Telescope Allocation Committee, Solar System Panel, 1997.
Local Organizing Committee, 29th annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American
Astronomical Society, 1997.
PUBLIC OUTREACH (SELECTED)
Author of Mountain skies, a monthly astronomy and stargazing column in The Allenspark Wind, Allenspark CO,
2002-present.
Astronomy from the Hubble Space Telescope. Quincy Bog Nature Center, Rumney N. H., July 22, 1998.
Pluto and the edge of the solar system. Northeastern University's Marine Science Center, Nahant, MA, February 18,
1998.
Comets: What are they, where do they come from, and where are they going? Quincy Bog Nature Center, Rumney
N. H., August 13, 1997.
Pluto: the coolest planet in the solar system. Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth (IAAY) Space and
Astronomy Day at Boston University, Boston, MA, November 24, 1996.
Once in a blue moon: What we learn from rare events in the solar system. Morrison Planetarium, California
Academy of Science, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA, January 23, 1996
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS
Grundy, W. M. and L. A. Young, 2004. Near-infrared spectral monitoring of Triton with IRTF/SpeX I: Establishing
a baseline for rotational variability Submitted to Icarus.
L. A. Young, R. V. Yelle, R. E. Young, A. Seiff, and D. B. Kirk 2004. Gravity waves in Jupiter's stratosphere, as
measured by the Galileo ASI experiment. Submitted to Icarus.
Grundy, W. M., L. A. Young, and E. F. Young 2003. Discovery of CO2 ice and leading-trailing spectral asymmetry
on the Uranian satellite Ariel. Icarus 162, 222-229.
L. A. Young, A. S. Bosh, Marc Buie, J. L. Elliot, Larry Wasserman 2001. Uranus's autumnal thermosphere: results
from the 1998 November 6 occultation. Icarus 153, 236-247.
L. A. Young, J. C. Cook, R. V. Yelle. and E. F. Young 2001. Upper limits on gaseous CO at Pluto and Triton from
high-resolution near-IR spectroscopy. Icarus 153, 148-156.
L. A. Young, S. A. Stern 2001. UV Observations of Triton in 1999 with HST/STIS. 2150-3180 Angstrom
Spectroscopy and Disk- Integrated Photometry. Astronomical Journal, 122, 449-456.
R. V. Yelle, C. A. Griffith, L. A. Young 2001. Structure of the Jovian Stratospere at the Galileo probe entry site.
Icarus, 152, 331- 346.
J. L. Elliot, M. J. Person, S. W. McDonald, M. W. Buie, E. W. Dunham, R. L. Millis, R. A. Nye, C. B. Olkin, L. H.
Wasserman, L. A. Young, W. B. Hubbard, R. Hill, H. J. Reitsema, J. M. Pasachoff, T. H. McConnochie, B. A.
Babcock, R. C. Stone, and P. Francis 2000. The prediction and observation of the 1997 July 18 stellar occultation by
Triton: More evidence for distortion and increasing pressure in Triton's atmosphere. Icarus 148, 347-369.
Elliot, J. L. and 17 others (including L. A. Young) 2000. Further evidence for increasing pressure in Triton's
atmosphere. Icarus, 148, 347-369..
Muller-Wodarg, I. C. F., R. V. Yelle, M. Mendillo, L. A. Young, A. D. Aylward 2000. The Thermosphere of Titan
simulated by a global 3-dimensional time-dependent model. Journal Geophysical Research, Journal Geophysical
Research, 105, 20833-20856..
LESLIE ANN YOUNG
Southwest Research Institute
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS (cont'd)
Schoendorf, J., L. A. Young, and W. L. Oliver 2000. Hot oxygen profiles for ISR analysis of ion energy balance.
Journal Geophysical Research, 105, 12823-12832.
Seiff, A., D. B. Kirk, T. C. D. Knight, R. E. Young, J. D. Mihalov, L. A. Young, F. S. Milos, G. Schubert, R. C.
Blanchard, and D. Atkinson 1998. Thermal structure of Jupiter's atmosphere in the North Equatorial Belt near the
edge of a 5-micron hot spot. Journal Geophysical Research 103, 22,857-22,889.
Cooray, A. R., J. L. Elliot, A. S. Bosh, L. A. Young, and M. A. Shure 1998. Stellar occultation observations of
Saturn's north-polar temperature structure. Icarus 132, 298-310.
Olkin, C. B. and 19 others (including L. A. Young) 1997. The thermal structure of Triton's atmosphere: results
from the 1993 and 1995 occultations. Icarus 128, 178-201.
Young, L. A., J. L. Elliot, A. Tokunaga, C. de Bergh, and T. Owen 1997. Detection of Gaseous Methane on Pluto.
Icarus 127, 258-262.
Young, L. A., R. V. Yelle, R. Young, A. Seiff, and D. Kirk 1997. Gravity Waves in Jupiter's thermosphere. Science
276, 108-111.
Seiff, A., D. B. Kirk, T. C. D. Knight, L. A. Young, F. S. Milos, E. Venkatapathy, J. D. Mihalov, R. C. Blanshard,
R. E. Young, and G. Schubert 1997. Thermal structure of Jupiter's upper atmosphere derived from the Galileo
Probe. Science 276, 102-104.
Yelle, R. V., L. A. Young, R. J. Vervack, R. Young, L. Pfister, and W. R. Sandel 1996. The structure of Jupiter's
upper atmosphere: predictions for Galileo. Journal Geophysical Research 101, 2149-2161.
Young, L. A., C. B. Olkin, J. L. Elliot, D. J. Tholen, and M. W. Buie 1994. The Charon-Pluto mass ratio from MKO
astrometry. Icarus 108, 186-199.
Owen, T. C., T. L. Roush, D. P. Cruikshank, J. L. Elliot, L. A. Young, C. de Bergh, B. Schmitt, T. Geballe, R. H.
Brown, and M. J. Bartholomew 1993. Surface ices and the atmospheric composition of Pluto. Science 261, 745-748.
Millis, R. L. and 31 others (including L. A. Young) 1993. Pluto's radius and atmosphere: Results from the entire 9
June 1988 occultation data set. Icarus 105, 282-297.
Noll, K. S., H. B. Hammel, L. A. Young, J. Joiner, J. Hackwell, D. Lynch, and R. Russell 1993. 3- to 13-m spectra
of Io. Icarus 104, 337-340.
Elliot, J. L. and L. A. Young 1992. Analysis of stellar occultation data for planetary atmospheres: I. model fitting,
with application to Pluto. Astron. J., 103, 991-1015.
Bosh, A. S., L. A. Young, J. L. Elliot, H. B. Hammel, and R. L. Baron 1992. Photometric variability of Charon at
2.2-m. Icarus 95, 319-324.
Hammel, H. B., L. A. Young, J. Hackwell, D. K. Lynch, R. Russell, and G. S. Orton 1992. Variability of Neptune's
12.2-m Methane emission feature. Icarus 99, 347-352.
Elliot, J. L. and L. A. Young 1991. Limits on the radius and a possible atmosphere of Charon from its 1980 stellar
occultation. Icarus 89, 244-254.
Elliot, J. L., E. W. Dunham, A. S. Bosh, S. M. Slivan, L. A. Young, L. H. Wasserman, and R. L. Millis 1989.
Pluto's atmosphere. Icarus 77, 148-170.