Heather A. Knutson Explained

Heather Knutson
Fields:Astrophysics
Exoplanets
Workplaces:California Institute of Technology
Alma Mater:Johns Hopkins University
Harvard University
Thesis Title:Portraits of distant worlds: Characterizing the atmospheres of extrasolar planets
Thesis Url:https://www.proquest.com/docview/304892695?sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses
Thesis Year:2009
Doctoral Advisor:David Charbonneau
Awards:NSF GRFP
Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy
Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy
NSF CAREER Award
Sloan Fellowship
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

Heather A. Knutson is an astrophysicist and professor of planetary science at California Institute of Technology in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences.[1] Her research is focused on the study of exoplanets, their composition and formation.

In 2016, she was referred to in Popular Science as "the first exoplanet meteorologist, determining the local temperature, weather, and even composition of the atmosphere".[2]

Education

As an undergraduate in the physics department of Johns Hopkins University, Knutson worked part-time as an intern with the Space Telescope Science Institute. In 2004, she graduated with a B.S. in physics with both departmental and university honors.[3]

Following her undergraduate work, Knutson completed doctoral studies at Harvard University with doctoral advisor David Charbonneau. She completed her Ph.D. in astronomy there in 2009 upon successful defense of her thesis, entitled Portraits of distant worlds: Characterizing the atmospheres of extrasolar planets.[4] [5]

Academic career

Following completion of her doctorate, Knutson worked for two years as a Miller Institute postdoctoral fellow in the department of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she studied the atmospheres of so-called "hot Jupiters," exoplanet gas giants orbiting close to their star, by studying the light from those stars as they were partially eclipsed by their planets.[6]

Since 2011, Knutson has been at the California Institute of Technology. Her work characterizing exoplanetary atmospheres has led to a number of awards and recognition, including the American Astronomical Society's Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy in 2013 and Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy in 2015.[7] She was awarded a CAREER award by the National Science Foundation in 2016 for a proposal studying smaller exoplanets and upon recommendation by the same agency was awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2017.[8]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. http://www.gps.caltech.edu: Heather A. Knutson | www.gps.caltech.edu, accessdate: March 7, 2019
  2. Popular Science: How Heather Knutson Reads The Weather On Exoplanets | Popular Science, accessdate: June 15, 2016
  3. Web site: Short Bio. web.gps.caltech.edu. 2016-06-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20171114194642/http://web.gps.caltech.edu/~hknutson/Short_Bio.html. 2017-11-14. dead.
  4. Knutson . Heather Ann . 2009-01-01 . Portraits of distant worlds: Characterizing the atmospheres of extrasolar planets . Thesis . English . United States -- Massachusetts . . .
  5. Web site: Short Bio . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20171114194642/http://web.gps.caltech.edu/~hknutson/Short_Bio.html . 2017-11-14 . 2016-06-15 . web.gps.caltech.edu.
  6. News: Winter 2011 . Miller Fellow Focus: Heather Knutson . 2024-04-12 . Miller Institute Newsletter . 1–3.
  7. American Astronomical Society: Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy | American Astronomical Society, accessdate: June 15, 2016
  8. Web site: NSF Award Search: Award # 1555095 - CAREER: Super-Earth or Mini-Neptune? Exploring the Mysterious Origins of the Smallest Transiting Planets . 2024-04-12 . www.nsf.gov . en.
  9. Web site: President Donald J. Trump Announces Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. 2019-07-02. en. National Archives. whitehouse.gov. 2019-08-03.
  10. Web site: Knutson Receives AAS Award for Outstanding Research Caltech. The California Institute of Technology. January 28, 2015 . 2016-06-15.
  11. Web site: Caltech Professors Awarded 2015 Sloan Fellowships Caltech. The California Institute of Technology. February 23, 2015 . 2016-06-15.
  12. Web site: Heather Knutson Wins Astronomy Award Caltech. The California Institute of Technology. January 24, 2013 . 2016-06-15.
  13. Web site: Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy to Heather A. Knutson, Astronomy PhD '09. astronomy.fas.harvard.edu. 2016-06-15.
  14. Web site: Heather A. Knutson curriculum vitae. https://web.archive.org/web/20170822010239/http://web.gps.caltech.edu/~hknutson/CV_%26_Publications_files/cv.pdf. 2017-08-22. dead.

External links