Professor Penelope King
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About
Employment
Assoc Dean (Research) – College of Science – ANU 2021-2023
Prof/Snr Fellow/Fellow – Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES) – ANU 2012-
Snr Res Sci III/Res Prof – Inst. Meteoritics / Earth Planet Sci – Uni New Mexico 2007-2011
Assoc (Tenured)/Asst Prof – Dept. Earth Sciences – Uni Western Ontario (UWO) 1999-07
Honours
Fellow, Geochemical Society 2023
Fellow, American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2019
Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) 2019
AGU Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-Career Scientists in Earth & Space Sciences 2019
Australian Research Council Future Fellow 2014-18
Clare Burton Award for Equity & Diversity (ANU VC's Staff Excellence & Service Award) 2017
Snr Fellow, Advance HE 2017
NASA Gp Award to MSL (Mars Science Laboratory) team 2013, 2015
Adjunct Prof/Spec Grad Faculty – Guelph-Waterloo Physics Inst/Schl Environ Sci Uni. Guelph – Canada 2011-15
Science Co-Investigator for the APXS team on the MSL mission 2007
MSA Distinguished Lecturer 2005
Advisory Panels
Aust Acad Science, Space Sci Rev, Planet Sci 2020
NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return End-to-End Internat Sci Anal Gp 2010-11
USA Nat Res Coun, Space Studies Board, Decadal Survey – Mars Science 2009-10
USA NASA & NSF Panels & Canadian Space Agency Advisory Comms
Editor
Principle Editor – Rev Mineralogy & Geochemistry v84 2018
Contrib Editor – A Life in Science – Elements 2012-17
Assoc Editor – Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2012-14
Principle Editor – Mineralogical Assoc Canada Short Course v33 2004
Activities
International & national conferences – instigator/lead for >dozen conferences in research & teaching
Lead - Australasian Uni Geosci Educators’ Network 2015
Councilor - MSA & Mineral Assoc Canada
Fellows committes – AGU (member), Geochem Soc–Eur Assoc Geochem (chair)
Awards committees – AGU, Geochem Soc, MSA, Mineral Assoc Canada
Panel & graduation speaker
Affiliations
- Geochemistry, Member
- Earth Systems Chemistry, Leader
Research interests
Professor Penny King's research group examines how volatile species – carbon-oxygen-hydrogen-sulfur compounds that prefer to be in a gas phase – are distributed on planets. Tracking the sources and sinks of volatile elements lies at the heart of understanding how life originated, how planetary atmospheres develop, how ore deposits form, and how climate is regulated.
Our approach is unique in applying a combination of methods to track volatiles including petrology, high to low temperature experiments, geochemistry, thermodynamics, field sampling, and new analytical approaches (e.g., synchrotron, micro-analysis, and a remote X-ray spectrometer on Mars’s Curiosity rover).
Projects
Teaching information
Current teaching
I teach Planetary Science EMSC3022/EMSC6022 which is open to students who have completed a semester of first year. This course aims to explore the planets, dwarf planets, moons and other solid objects in our solar system and beyond to exoplanets. We examine processes that are important in Planetary Sciences and unify our studies of planets and help us explore for life beyond Earth.
Most years, students do Special Topics and ASC projects with me, and I have supervised several College of Engineering, Computing & Cybernetics Honours students with recent projects including “The role of wetting on carbon capture”, “Reaction of marble with SO2”, “Effect of mineral orientation on femto-second laser pits” and “Alteration of meteorites”.
Other teaching
I have taught and convened the following courses:
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Students
I am the primary PhD supervisor for Rachel Kirby and Riley Baile (links below). Jack Brady is undertaking Engineering Honours (2023-24)
Recent graduates include Sarah McIntyre (RSAA PhD student), Caleb McCollom (MESA), Emily Robson (Hons) and Fiona Nguyen (Hons). Sam Hill and Max Etherington completed ASC projects in 2023, and our group has a number of valued student affiliates: Julia Brand, Aditya Patkar, Geoff Bonning and Leo Baeza.
If you are interested in organising a project, please contact me.
Location
Research School of Earth Sciences, Jaeger 5