News

Jan L. Hellmann, currently a postdoc at the Institut für Planetologie, University of Münster, Germany, is awarded the 2021 Pellas-Ryder Award for his paper titled “Origin of volatile element depletion among carbonaceous chondrites” published in Earth & Planetary Science Letters in 2020. Jan Hellmann was a PhD student at the Institut für Planetologie, University of Münster, working with Thorsten Kleine, when the paper was submitted. He analyzed the isotopic composition of tellurium, a moderately volatile element, in carbonaceous chondrites to find that mass-dependent Te isotope fractionation correlated with matrix mass fraction and nucleosynthetic chromium (Cr-54) isotope compositions. More…

Dr. Christian Koeberl (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, and University of Vienna) is awarded the Service Award for 2021 for his transformative decade-long tenure as Director General of the Naturhistorisches Museum during which the museum was extensively modernized and renovated resulting in a doubling of the number of visitors. He is also recognized for his tireless public outreach activities in meteoritics and impact cratering and impressive societal service contributions. More…

Dr. Maria Schönbächler (ETH Zürich, Switzerland) is the inaugural Jessberger Awardee for 2021. The Jessberger Award is offered by the Meteoritical Society every other year to a mid-career, female isotope geochemist thanks to an endowment from the family of Dr. Elmar K. Jessberger. Dr. Schönbächler is recognized for her contributions to geochronology using the Pd-Ag and Nb-Zr chronometers, and for her contributions to the understanding of nucleosynthetic anomalies in elements like Zr and Pd. More…

Dr. Nan Liu (Washington University St. Louis, Missouri, USA) has been selected for the 2021 Nier Prize for her contributions to the field of presolar grains and nucleosynthesis, using a wide range of analytical techniques. More…

Dr. Gordon Osinski (Western University, Ontario, Canada) has been selected as the 2021 Barringer Awardee for his prolific studies on impact melt rock and hydrothermal alteration processes in terrestrial craters with a particular focus on understanding melting, ejecta emplacement, and habitability, as well as his work on the “suevite conundrum”. More…

Dr. Katharina Lodders (Washington University St. Louis, USA) has been selected for the 2021 Leonard Medal by the Meteoritical Society for her work on the condensation of presolar grains in stellar atmospheres and her compilation of the Solar System Abundances of the Elements and the condensation temperatures of the elements. More…

We have been watching with the rest of the world the unfolding of recent events in the United States and the resulting turmoil. This brings home to us yet again that we have a ways to go before we achieve the just and equitable world that we all aspire to. If unacknowledged and unchecked, discrimination and injustice can enter any organization or community – and can destroy the very foundations upon which we are building our future. More…

Sabina D. Raducan, currently a PhD student in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College, London, is awarded the 2020 Pellas-Ryder Award for her paper titled “The role of asteroid strength, porosity and internal friction in impact momentum transfer” published in Icarus in 2019. More…

Simon J. Lock, currently a postdoc at the California Institute of Technology, is awarded the 2019 Pellas-Ryder Award for his paper titled “The Origin of the Moon within a Terrestrial Synestia” published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Planets in 2018. Simon Lock was a Ph.D student at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, working with Sarah T. Stewart (now at UC Davis), when the paper was submitted. More…

The McKay Award for the 81st Annual Meeting in Moscow is given to Timothy Gregory (University of Bristol) for the presentation " Using refractory forsterite grains to test models of 26Al/27Al heterogeniety". More…