The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is pleased to announce that the 2020 recipient of the Eugene M. Shoemaker Impact Cratering Award is Hiu Ching Jupiter Cheng from the University of Georgia. The award supports her investigation of impact craters on the dwarf planet Ceres.

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 includes $3,000 to be applied to study impact craters, either on Earth or on the other solid bodies in the solar system. Areas of study include but are not necessarily limited to impact cratering processes, the bodies (asteroidal or cometary) that make the impacts, and the geological, chemical, or biological results of impact cratering.

This award is generously provided by the Planetary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America and is administered by the LPI. It commemorates the work of Eugene (“Gene”) Shoemaker, who greatly influenced planetary sciences during the Apollo era and for several decades thereafter, including the discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn and colleague David Levy.

Proposals for next year’s award will be due August 19, 2021. The application form will open on or about April 1, 2021. Application details can be found at https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/Awards/Shoemaker_Award/.