Gretchen Benedix is an astro-geologist and cosmic mineralogist using meteorites to study the solar system’s evolution. After a brief stint in particle physics, she has trained her attention on planets, asteroids and meteorites for the last 30 or so years.
She loves interrogating meteorites to decipher the geologic processes that shaped them. She uses these clues to unravel the evolution of the early solar system which helps to build the life story of the Earth. This has led to several publications where she and her team have used machine learning to determine the launch location on Mars of several meteorites which have landed on Earth. The team are now exploring the Moon with machine learning to update the lunar geologic map.
Gretchen is an adventurer and has been fortunate to participate in multiple meteorite hunts around the globe, including two expeditions to Antarctica, which really taught her how to camp. She also has an asteroid named for her (6579 Benedix), which will not interact with the Earth … ever. She has checked.
