Michaela Dobson of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, has been named the 2021 Eugene M. Shoemaker Impact Cratering Award recipient. Dobson will study a potential impact ejecta horizon in a 3.5 Ga sequence of sedimentary rocks. If an impact origin is confirmed, it will be the oldest known ejecta layer on Earth.

The Eugene M. Shoemaker Impact Cratering Award is for undergraduate or graduate students of any nationality, working in any country, in the disciplines of geology, geophysics, geochemistry, astronomy, or biology. The award, which includes $3,000, is to be applied for the study of impact craters, either on Earth or on the other solid bodies in the solar system, which areas of study may include but shall not necessarily be limited to impact cratering processes, the bodies (asteroidal or cometary) that make the impacts, or the geological, chemical or biological results of impact cratering. READ MORE