Zachary Torrano received his B.S. in Environmental Geosciences from the University of Notre Dame in 2015, and is currently enrolled in the final year of his Ph.D. at ASU, advised by Prof. Meenakshi Wadhwa. As an undergraduate, Zack conducted nuclear forensics research in the University of Notre Dame’s High Temperature Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory from 2013–2015, […]
Category: News
Alumna Emilie Dunham joins Antarctic Search for Meteorites
Having successfully defended her dissertation in September, Center alumna Dr. Emilie Dunham is preparing to collect meteorites from Antarctica this week! As a member of the US-led Antarctic Search for Meteorites program (ANSMET), she'll be collecting meteorites from stranding surfaces along the Transantarctic Mountains. To date, ANSMET has recovered over 22,000 meteorites – these meteorites […]
New paper: Hypervelocity impacts in iron meteorites
PhD Candidate Soumya Ray is a co-author on a new research paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. The paper, Hypervelocity impact experiments in iron-nickel ingots and iron meteorites: Implications for the NASA Psyche mission, details the results of a series of high-velocity impact experiments performed on iron meteorites and cast metal ingots […]
Meenakshi Wadhwa elected AGU Fellow
In recognition of her visionary leadership and scientific excellence, Meenakshi Wadhwa was recently elected to the 2019 class of the American Geophysical Union Fellows. According to the official announcement in EOS, AGU Fellows are recognized for their scientific eminence in the Earth and space sciences. Their breadth of interests and the scope of their contributions […]
Congratulations, Dr. Emilie Dunham!
Congratulations to Dr. Emilie Dunham, who successfully defended her doctoral thesis September 13th! To Be or not to B: Meteoritic Implications for the Galactic Environment of Solar System Formation Short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) once present in the solar nebula can be used to probe the Solar System’s galactic formation environment. Isotopic analyses reveal that the first […]
New titanium isotope paper
In a new paper published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, PhD Candidate Zack Torrano and co-authors investigate whether the isotope compositions of previously analyzed calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) are representative of CAIs from other chondrites and chondrite groups and, by extension, the broader CAI-forming region in the solar nebula. CAIs are the oldest dated solids formed […]
Congratulations, Dr. Daniel Dunlap!
Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Dunlap, who successfully defended his doctoral thesis August 28! Dr. Dunlap will next undertake a post-doctoral research position at NASA Johnson Space Center. Chronology of Planetesimal Differentiation Based on the Timing of Achondrite Formation in the Early Solar System The early Solar System was a dynamic period of time during which […]
Zack Torrano receives NASA award
Congratulations to Ph.D. candidate Zachary Torrano, recipient of a highly competitive and prestigious Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) award! Zack's proposal, "Using three isotope systems (Cr, Ti, and O) to address two important questions in planetary science via one sample suite of ungrouped chondrites: 3, 2, 1, Go!", was […]
Meenakshi Wadhwa ready to lead Earth and space exploration at ASU
Congratulations to former Center for Meteorite Studies Director Meenakshi Wadhwa, who has assumed leadership of ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration! Wadhwa received her doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California at San Diego and then curator at the Field Museum in Chicago before […]
Soumya Ray featured on Women Doing Science
Ph. D. Candidate Soumya Ray was recently featured on the Women Doing Science Instagram and Twitter feeds. The posts include a brief description of Ray's research in the Center for Meteorite Studies and School of Earth and Space Exploration, in addition to photos of her work in both the meteorite collection and laboratory. Women Doing […]
