Preface: The Evolving ISM in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

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The fourth Spitzer Science Symposium "The Evolving ISM in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies" was held in Pasadena, CA from 2-5 December, 2007. The conference focused on synthesizing recent results for the interstellar medium (ISM) and its interplay with star formation in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. In the Milky Way and Local Group galaxies we have an unparalleled view of the astrophysics of the interstellar medium, where one can study in detail the spatially-resolved energetics and the complex interplay of physical and chemical processes that govern the ISM. The ISM is both a fossil record of past star formation and evolutionary processes and a natal medium for future star formation.The Spitzer Space Telescope has provided a plethora of exciting results that have revolutionized our understanding of the ISM and star formation, particularly from large programs such as MIPSGAL, GLIMPSE, C2D, etc. How do these new discoveries of the local processes governing the ISM impact our understanding of nearby galaxies? How important are local processes when averaged over an entire galaxy? Legacy programs like SINGS and SAGE are two examples of rich and diverse sets of data for nearby galaxies where such questions may be examined?. ISM physics is the critical ingredient for turning gas and dust diagnostics into information about evolutionary processes such as star formation. The exceptional view of the far-infrared Milky way captured by Spitzer and the extraordinary data gathered from nearby galaxies was the main reason for organizing this conference to synthesize the most recent developments in the coupled fields of the ISM and Nearby Galaxies. Over the three days, we heard invited and contributed talks from over fifty participants. The poster session had over 100 posters and results from nearly a quarter of them were also presented in an abbreviated one to two minute format. The conference also had some firsts. We tried to be as environmentally sensitive as possible by "greening" the conference, from transportation options to elimination of paper. These proceedings are all electronic. We greatly appreciate the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS), whose abstract service makes it easy to disseminate a paperless proceedings. The conference was extremely smooth and did not run over time on any day - this would not have been possible without the help and experience of the local organizing committee. In particular, we want to acknowledge the help of the Spitzer conference experts: Mary Ellen Barba, Roseanne Scholey, Helga Mycroft, Eloise Kennedy and the ISG team. We thank Megan Crane for designing and maintaining the abstract and registration submission pages. We also thank Seppo Laine, Tim Pyle and Robert Hurt for their help with designing the conference poster and the conference mascot (Dusty Starr!). Members of the SSC science staff (Sean Carey, Deborah Padgett, Caroline Bot, Sachin Shenoy and Roberta Paladini) served on the LOC and were ready to help as needed. A particular shout out goes to Jim Ingalls, web designer extra-ordinaire for a beautiful and easy to navigate website. And kudos to Roberta Paladini and Jim Ingalls for their work with the ADS in putting together these electronic proceedings. The conference would not have been as successful without the scientific program which was put together with the help of an incredible scientific organizing committee (Lia Athanassoula, Francois Boulanger, Pauline Barmby, Francoise Combes, Ed Churchwell, Debra Elmegreen, Neal Evans, George Helou, Robert Kennicutt, Jin Koda, Peter Martin, Paul Martini, Eva Schinnerer, Alberto Noriega-Crespo and Kartik Sheth). And finally a heartfelt thank you to all the participants for their contributions. We hope to see all of you in Pasadena again.

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