Dear Meteoritical Society Members,
Here are announcements for December 2025:
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Renew Your MetSoc Membership for 2026 – Membership renewals are now open for 2026. Visit this page to renew, and for more details. Student membership is only $10 and early career membership is $40.
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Volunteer to Staff the AGU Booth – The Meteoritical Society will host a booth at AGU25 in New Orleans from Monday, December 15, through Thursday, December 18. The booth aims to introduce the Society to a broader scientific community and recruit new members. The Meteoritical Society booth is Booth #1563 on the exhibit floor. We are still seeking volunteers to staff the booth during the meeting. If you’re interested, please sign up using this signup sheet. A limited number of exhibit hall passes are available for those who wish to help but were not otherwise planning to attend AGU. Even if you can't volunteer, please stop by the booth to say hello. Please email any questions to Thomas Burbine (tburbine@mtholyoke.edu) and Imene Kerraouch (imene.kerraouch@nasa.gov), who are coordinating this initiative.
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Endowment Grant Deadline is 15 January, 2026 – The Meteoritical Society offers both Community Grants, to further the goals of the Meteoritical Society, and Research Grants, to support early career and student members. Visit the website for details on how to apply.
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Nominations are Open for 2026 Awards – Nominate a deserving colleague for a MetSoc award! Nominations are due February 15, 2026, for the Leonard Medal, Barringer Award, Nier Prize, Service Award, Jessberger Award, and Fellows. Pellas-Ryder Award nominations are due January 31, 2026. Visit the Awards page of the website for details.
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Research Grant Reports – Read the latest reports from projects supported by Meteoritical Society Research Grants:
*From Luke Alesbrook, University of Kent, on: Impacting Exotic Ices
*From Yeimmy Alejandra Gutierrez Pardo, University of Brazil, on: Genesis of the Mafic Granophyre impact melt rock, Vredefort impact structure, South Africa
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Community Grant Reports – Read the latest report from a project supported by Meteoritical Society Community Grants:
*From Marian Sapah, University of Ghana, on: The 5th edition of the Arab and Africa Impact Cratering and Astrogeology Conference
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Ed Scott Lecture Series – Mark your calendars for the upcoming Ed Scott online lecture on 18 December, 2025 at 20:00 UTC given by Sara Russell on the The abundance and importance of Type 1 material in the Solar System. Please expect the connection information in a special announcement closer to the meeting.*
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Final report from the 87th Annual Meeting in Perth – We sincerely appreciate Katarina Miljkovic and the Local Organizing Committee for organizing a great meeting in Perth, Australia. For the final report and more details about the meeting see here.
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Elements – Classroom Sets Available
Elements offers free classroom sets of the Elements issue “Sample Return Through the Ages” (vol. 21, no. 5). These complimentary copies come from a batch printed with an error on the cover, which prompted them to produce a corrected reprint. Rather than recycle the misprinted copies, Elements is pleased to make them available for educational and outreach purposes.
Request form: www.elementsmagazine.org/classroom
Each box will include 25 complimentary copies, as well as a promotional poster for bulletin boards to help raise awareness of Elements, the participating societies, and student and early-career membership opportunities. They are also planning a brief follow-up survey to learn how the issues were used and to gather feedback for future outreach initiatives.
COMMUNITY SUBMITTED ANNOUNCEMENTS
Open Rank Professorship in Planetary Sciences at the University of Bern, Switzerland – The Division of Space Research and Planetary sciences at the University of Bern in Switzerland invites applications for a faculty position in planetary sciences. We welcome applications from candidates working in a broad range of research subjects and methods. The initial level of tenure can range from assistant professor tenure track to full professor depending on qualifications. Deadline is 31. Jan. 2026.
For details see this link: https://ohws.prospective.ch/public/v1/jobs/5910a4be-30c9-4e9d-abbe-9bc44b71776e
For inquiries, please contact Prof. Christoph Mordasini, Executive Director of the Division of Space Research and Planetary Sciences (jobs.space@unibe.ch).
Submitted by Maria Schönbächler (ETH Zurich)
Call for Sessions and Workshops for MetSoc 2026– The organisation of the MetSoc 2026 meeting in Frankfurt am Main from August 9 -14, 2026 is well under way. If you would like to propose a session for the conference or offer a pre-conference workshop on Sunday, August 9, now is your chance. Please follow the guidelines below:
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Session Proposals – Provide a short title for your proposed session together with a brief (200–500 words) description of the session and, if appropriate, a justification for why this session should be included in the MetSoc 2026 programme. Name yourself (or, with their consent, someone else) as the person responsible for the session.
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Workshop Proposals – Provide a title and description of the workshop. An image may be included. List the names of the workshop leads, the required time slot/duration, and the maximum number of attendees. The proposal should not exceed one page in standard formatting.
Please send your proposal directly to dominik.hezel@em.uni-frankfurt.de by Friday, December 19, 2025. Information about the meeting, including this call, can be found on the conference website: https://metsoc2026-frankfurt.com
We look forward to receiving your proposals!
Submitted by Dominik Hezel (Chair of the Scientific Organising Committee)
Impact Crater Evolution and Terrestrial Environmental Consequences (i-CREATE) Workshop – We want to draw the attention of MetSoc members to the upcoming application deadline to participate in the meeting.
Dates: April 27th to May 1st 2026
Venue: Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
Hosts: Uisdean Nicholson, Sean Gulick, Christian Koeberl
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Summary: Hypervelocity impacts are the most important planetary process across the Solar System and fundamentally change the physical properties of planetary crust. They represent significant regional to global hazards but can also generate habitable environments that persist long after impact. This 3-day workshop in Edinburgh, followed by an optional field trip to the spectacular Stac Fada Member impact ejecta sequence in the NW Highlands, aims to develop new IODP3/lCDP drilling proposals investigating buried impact craters (e.g., Chicxulub and Nadir). These will allow us to understand the fundamental physics of impact cratering and investigate the environmental consequences of such events.
This workshop is co-funded by the Magellan3 workshop series and the US Science Support Program. The workshop will be limited to ~45 participants, so please register your interest before the 19th of December 2025.
See https://icreate.site.hw.ac.uk/ for more details.
Submitted by Christian Koeberl (University of Vienna)
New meeting – Analytical Microscopy in the Earth & Planetary Sciences 2026 (Hybrid) – The Geological Society, in partnership with the Mineralogical Society, are hosting a new meeting focused on the use of analytical microscopy across the Earth & Planetary Sciences, held in London and online on the 26-27 February 2026. GeolSoc & MinSoc members receive discounted registration, and student members can attend virtually for free.
This two-day meeting includes talks, posters, panel discussions, community updates, and an exhibition with our microscopy sponsors. Sessions include developments across SEM-EDS, EPMA, EBSD, TOF-SIMS, 4D-STEM, and Machine Learning, as well as a focus on terrestrial, analogue, and extra-terrestrial samples.
The programme can be found via the website and registration is now open: https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/events/analytical-microscopy-in-the-earth-planetary-sciences-ameps/
Submitted by Natasha Stephen (The Geological Society, UK)
Volunteer Opportunity – Planetary Science Theme Lead with the Geological Society – We are looking for a new Planetary Science theme lead to start in 2026 (2-year term) to help us develop a strategy and events in this area, and to participate in our Science Committee. We anticipate the time commitment to be no more than a couple of hours each month.
Whilst the role is a voluntary one, we have negotiated a package of benefits that will recognise the efforts of our volunteers upon whom we are very grateful:
Benefit Package
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Complimentary GSL fellowship for duration of lead role so current fellowship not required (this will be credited for next year if you are already a GSL fellow)
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Registration at the theme’s flagship conference covered by GSL, as well as other theme events/activities throughout the year
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Travel & accommodation expenses to theme’s flagship conference covered by GSL – subject to GSL policy and reasonable costs, i.e., standard class travel
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Participation in COP and UNESCO events with GSL through our partner activities where relevant
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Invites to special GSL events throughout the year, e.g. President’s Day
If you have any questions or would like to be considered (closing date 26th January), contact: science@geolsoc.org.uk.
Submitted by Natasha Stephen (The Geological Society, UK)
Tenure-Track Faculty in Astronomy and Astrophysics University of Georgia / Department of Physics and Astronomy – The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Georgia invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor in observational astronomy and astrophysics, with an anticipated start date of August 2026. We welcome applicants at both ranks, with encouragement for early-career scientists at the Assistant Professor level.
Applicants should only apply at https://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/458945. Any other correspondence should be addressed to the search committee chair, Prof. Inseok Song (song@uga.edu). All applications received by December 31, 2025 will receive full consideration, but review will continue until the position is filled.
Submitted by Paul A. Schroeder (University of Georgia)
Share your announcements with MetSoc members – Submission guidelines and other details are given on the society's website.
Thank you for being a part of the Meteoritical Society, and please feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Guy Consolmagno, Meteoritical Society President, metsocpres@meteoritical.org
Jutta Zipfel, Meteoritical Society Secretary, metsocsec@meteoritical.org
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