Defining Groups: Identifying Characteristics of the Mars Scientific Community

Scientific communities are composed of interconnected and disparate groupings of individuals. The connections between those communities and the backgrounds of individuals can influence how those groups approach and solve problems. A question then becomes, what aspects of their connections and backgrounds are important to characterize that community? How do you characterize a community that spans multiple disciples, locations, and research interests? The current research sought to identify defining aspects of the Mars scientific community by looking at connections represented by co-authorship on papers. A subset of the Mars community was studied, specifically, those taking part in two separate panels. These panels consisted of the recent (2009) and previous (2003) Planetary Science Decadal Survey for Mars. The data suggests the community holds a diverse background with a fair amount of crossover in their academic achievements. Results also point to the influence of universities in the composition of these two panels.