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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethany Ehlmann | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany_Ehlmann | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T18:10:28.212549+00:00 | kb-cron |
Following her doctorate, Ehlmann became a European Union Marie Curie Fellow at the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale at University of Paris-Sud. In 2011, Ehlmann became an assistant professor of Planetary Science at California Institute of Technology and a Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, continuing her research in the mineral composition and chemistry of different planets, with a focus on Earth and Mars. In 2017, she was promoted to tenured professor. She's particularly interested in tracing chemical processes of water on other planets. For instance, her group has helped contribute to our understanding of Mars' missing atmosphere. A previous hypothesis suggested that carbon from Mars originally thick atmosphere had been sequestered into carbonate rocks and minerals. Ehlmann's team, however, inventoried evidence for carbonate rocks on the planet by analyzing satellite data and found there were not enough carbonate rocks on the planet to support that hypothesis. They suggested instead that the atmosphere had been gradually lost in space, which is supported by evidence collected by the Curiosity rover. By contrast, her group demonstrated the important role of sequestration of large volumes of water in Mars' crust as hydrated minerals. Along with the long-recognized process of loss to space, this drove climate change and aridification. Ehlmann has also collaborated on mission development and mission operations for NASA, including the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover and developing the Mastcam-Z and the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) imaging instruments for the Mars 2020 rover. Using samples collected by the Mars Curiosity rover, Ehlmann and her colleagues have planned experiments to interpret the sandstone layers of dunes that have since turned into rock on the Martian surface to search for clues of life on Mars, as well as how Mars' environment has evolved over the years. She was part of the team that proposed the Jezero crater, where rivers once fed into a lake, as the landing site for the Mars 2020 mission, citing that the crater was also an excellent landing site to look for signs of life underground, collecting river and lake sediments that might retain signs of past life. She is also one of several scientists advocating that the 2020 mission be a "mega mission" to find ancient life on Mars, visiting the maximum number of sites possible to ensure the likelihood that samples with signs of life are collected. Ehlmann is also part of the team exploring the geology of Ceres with data collected by the Dawn spacecraft. Ceres is the largest asteroid and dwarf planet in the Solar System's main asteroid belt and is marked by a number of bright spots associated with the impact of the crater Occator. She and collaborators found the bright spots were due to a variety of highly reflective salts that have accumulated on Ceres, likely as a result of some water-related process. Ehlmann was Principal Investigator of Lunar Trailblazer, a mission to study water on the Moon and one of the first missions in a new class of low-cost small spacecraft for planetary science. In June 2019, Lunar Trailblazer (LTB) was selected as a finalist for NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Science call. It was confirmed as a flight mission in November 2020. The smallsat launched successfully on February 26, 2025, from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services with Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission. Neither mission was successful and NASA lost contact with LTB a day after its launch. NASA attempted to regain contact with the orbiter until it the mission was shut down in July 2025 after it drifted into deep space. In April 2025, Ehlmann was the first woman to be named as the Director of University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.
== Public service == In 2016, Ehlmann was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences advisory Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science. In 2020, she began service on the National Academies Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 as a member of the Steering Committee and vice-chair of the Mars Panel. In 2019, Ehlmann joined the Board of Directors of The Planetary Society. In 2020, Ehlman was appointed as the President. Ehlmann is also active in STEM public outreach. In 2018 she published a children's book with the National Geographic Society's National Geographic Kids "Dr. E's Super-Stellar Solar System", pairing graphic novel-style adventures in the Solar System with Solar System facts from space missions, field studies, and telescope observations for children aged 8–12. As of 2024, Ehlmann is the Director of the Keck Institute for Space Studies.
== Awards and honors == Arthur Compton Scholar, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Varney Prize in Undergraduate Physics, 2001 Fossett Fellowship for the Pathfinder Program in environmental studies, 2001 Barry Goldwater Scholar, 2002 Morris K. Udall Scholar, 2002, 2003 Rhodes Scholar, 2004 Emerging Explorer, National Geographic Society, 2013 James B. Macelwane Medal, American Geophysical Union, 2015 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, 2015 Harold C. Urey Prize in Planetary Science, 2017 Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America, 2023
== References ==