Lindy Elkins-Tanton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lindy Elkins-Tanton
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Elkins-Tanton in 2018
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Psyche |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Planetary Science |
| Institutions | School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University; Carnegie Institution for Science; Brown University; St. Mary's College of Maryland |
| Doctoral advisors | Timothy L. Grove, Bradford H. Hager |
Lindy Elkins-Tanton is an American scientist who studies planets. She is a professor and works on how rocky planets, like Earth, change over time. She leads NASA's exciting Psyche mission. This mission will explore a special asteroid called 16 Psyche, which is made of metal. Lindy Elkins-Tanton also helps lead the Interplanetary Initiative at Arizona State University. She also helped start Beagle Learning, a company that teaches problem-solving skills.
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Career Journey
Lindy Elkins-Tanton studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She earned three degrees there. First, she got a bachelor's degree in geology. Then, she earned a master's degree in geochemistry. Finally, she received her Ph.D. in geology.
After her studies, she became a professor at MIT. She also worked as a research scientist at Brown University. For a time, she was a lecturer at St. Mary's College of Maryland. She even spent several years working in the business world.
Leading Science Programs
Within ten years of getting her Ph.D., she became a director. She led the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Science. On July 1, 2014, she became the director of the School of Earth and Space Science at Arizona State University.
The Psyche Mission
Dr. Elkins-Tanton is the leader of NASA's Psyche mission. This mission aims to explore a metallic asteroid named 16 Psyche. On January 4, 2017, NASA announced that this mission was chosen to move forward. Lindy Elkins-Tanton is only the second woman to lead a NASA mission to a major body in our Solar System.
Beagle Learning
She is also a co-founder of Beagle Learning. She leads the higher education part of this company. Beagle Learning creates software tools. These tools help make learning through exploration easier for students.
Awards and Recognition
Lindy Elkins-Tanton has received many honors for her work. She was named a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow twice. This is a special recognition from the National Academy of Sciences.
Key Awards
In 2008, she received a five-year CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. In 2009, MIT recognized her as an outstanding mentor for undergraduate students. The Explorers Club gave her the Lowell Thomas prize in 2010. This award was for her work on exploring extinctions.
In 2013, she was named an Astor Fellow at the University of Oxford. She worked with Tamsin Mather there. In 2016, she became a fellow of the American Geophysical Union. She received the Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship in 2020.
Named After Her
An asteroid was named after her: 8252 Elkins-Tanton. This is a great honor for a scientist. In 2022, a new mineral was discovered. It was found in the El Ali meteorite. This mineral was named elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton. Dr. Andrew Locock of the University of Alberta named it.
She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She is also part of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2022, she published her memoir. It is called A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman.
See also
- List of women in leadership positions on astronomical instrumentation projects
