dr William Bottke appointed AGU Fellow by SwRI

https://www.swri.org/press-release/swri-dr-william-bottke-named-agu-fellow

For Immediate Release

SAN ANTONIO – September 20, 2022 – Dr. William Bottke, director of the Southwest Research Institute’s Department of Space Studies, has been named a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

“It is a great honor to be recognized by my colleagues in planetary science,” said Bottke. “I appreciate the support I have received from this remarkable group of scientists throughout my career.”

Bottke specializes in studies of planet formation and the origin and evolution of small body populations throughout the solar system. Among other things, he examines how asteroids and comets have bombarded the Earth, the Moon and other worlds throughout their history.

“DR. Bottke is an exceptional and creative scientist with an unmatched and inspiring passion for finding answers to exciting questions about the origin and evolution of our solar system,” said Dr. Robin Canup, Associate Vice President, Space Science and Engineering at SwRI “I am delighted that he has received this important honor from AGU in recognition of his extensive and impactful contributions to our field.”

Bottke is on the science teams for four NASA missions: OSIRIS-REx, Lucy, Psyche and NEO Surveyor. These spacecraft and telescope missions are all aimed at expanding our knowledge of asteroids and what they can tell us about the formation of our solar system. He also participated in the 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, published in April. From 2013 to 2019 he led a team for NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute and from 2009 to 2013 a team for its predecessor, the NASA Lunar Science Institute.

Bottke gave the Shoemaker Lecture at the AGU Fall Conference 2015 and the Kavli Lecture at the 229^th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in 2017. He became a Fellow of the Meteoritical Society in 2016. In 2011 he received the first Paolo Farinella Prize in recognition of his significant contributions to planetary science. As a student at the University of Arizona, he received the Gerald P. Kuiper Memorial Award, which recognizes high caliber research and academic excellence. The main belt asteroid (7355) Bottke is named in his honor.

Bottke earned two bachelor’s degrees in physics and astrophysics from the University of Minnesota in 1988, both with honors. In 1995 he graduated from the University of Arizona with a PhD in Planetary Sciences. He is the author of more than 500 publications and was senior editor of Asteroid III and publisher of Asteroids IV, two volumes in the Space Science series from the University of Arizona Press. He joined SwRI in 2000.

Founded in 1919, AGU is an international, non-profit scientific association supporting 60,000 members in 137 countries. Its mission is to support and inspire a global community of individuals and organizations interested in advancing discoveries in earth and space science and their benefits to humankind and the environment.

Since 1962, the AGU has voted less than 0.1 percent of its members into its fellowship ranks each year. The prestigious designation recognizes union members who have made “excellent contributions to earth and space science through a breakthrough, discovery or innovation in their field.” Just 59 of 60,000 members were named Fellows this year, an honor that will be presented at the 2022 AGU Fall Meeting in Chicago on December 14.

For more information, see https://www.swri.org/planetary-science.