Summer Plans

So now that the spring semester is over, comps are over, and summer is starting, I have a whole new agenda. Here's what's going on this summer:

Work: I'm still at Space Foundation about 30 hours a week, so I'll be continuing to attend events, research, and write about space policy issues.

Game Theory: Jeff is teaching Game Theory at UMD (again), and I'm taking his class (unofficially). I'm hoping to actually do the psets and things this year - I'm really interested in the material, and it's fun to see Jeff teaching.

Comps Studying: I just finished taking the normative and political comps, but in the fall I need to take the microeconomics and quantitative analysis comps, so it's time to start a new round of studying. However, I think the reading list is not as intense, so it should be more manageable.

Dissertation Prep: I'm trying to do some background research to help understand my dissertation area and to choose an appropriate question. I'm interested in satellite monitoring for climate change, so I need to understand better exactly what role satellites play in monitoring climate change (how it works, what sats can do that other measurement technologies can't, etc.) and what this means for an ideal future plan (do we need international cooperation? how much coordination does there need to be?).

Happy Hours: We're continuing the Thursday night happy hour tradition - it's a fun way to explore the city (we pick a new place each week) and to make sure we see our friends!

Book Club: We're also continuing the monthly book club tradition - this month: Ender's Game.

Travel: I've got a decent amount of travel planned for this summer already. June 17-20th, Jeff and I and a bunch of friends are going to Boston. July 5-18, Jeff and I are going to Minnesota, July 30-August 1, Jeff and I will be in Las Vegas (for his MIT Pi Reunion), and *hopefully* Jeff and I will go on some kind of crazy adventure vacation August 7-22, though we haven't figured out where yet. And... though it's not technically summer, Jeff and I are going to Prague Sept. 21-Oct. 2nd. (My work is sending me to a conference, and Jeff is tagging along.)