Thailand 2008

IPST Conference, Bangkok

Our most recent CEN trip involved our good friends in Thailand - Dr. Pornpun Waitayangkoon and Prof. Krisanadej Jaroensutasinee of the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching of Science and Technology (IPST) and Walailak University, respectively. After viewing some fantastic student research presentations involving CloudSat and CEN observations at a GLOBE conference in Boulder, (Dr. Pornpun is also the GLOBE Country Coordinator for Thailand), we were invited to Bangkok to meet the students involved and participate in a student conference. Deanna TeBockhorst, our CloudSat outreach coordinator, and myself were happy to respond!

And, after four days of giving talks on climate change, NASA earth science missions, cloud observations, and remote sensing, plus judging student posters and presentations, along with interviews with Radio Thailand and the Bangkok Post, I finally got a chance to get out and see the city a little bit. Thailand is much too big a place to see in only two days (heck, I barely saw Bangkok) so I'm sure I'll head back with Karin someday to see the rest of the beautiful sites and enjoy some more incredible, delicious Thai cuisine (not limited just to the 'Popcorn Bacon Grill', which really exists!) - until then, these photos will have to do. Enjoy!