About Me
Adeene Denton is a geologist and planetary scientist interested in giant impacts and their influence on the history, evolution and tectonic activity of icy satellites, ocean worlds, and Kuiper Belt Objects. Adeene uses a combination of numerical tools, from shock physics codes to finite element modeling, to explore the effects of giant impacts, which begin in the first few seconds after impact and can extend for hundreds of millions of years. She is passionate about integrating numerical modeling, fieldwork, and everything in between to approach geologic problems. Asteroid 16883 adeenedenton is named for her research on impact processes on outer Solar System worlds, including Pluto.
Adeene is trained as a scientist, historian, and dancer, which informs her scientific and artistic research process. She is an avid astrohumanist focused on approaching future planetary exploration from a scientific and humanistic perspective. When she’s not blowing up Pluto, she’s pursuing additional research projects on everything from the history of geology during the Cold War to the social and cultural implications of space travel! You can find some of her writing right here under ‘Blog’ as well as on Medium. She is also involved in several projects aimed at building a more supportive environment for underrepresented groups in STEM, including co-founding the Ethics and Human Rights in the Space Sector project group for the Space Generation Advisory Council.
To see what Adeene is about in 20 minutes or less, check out her TEDx talk here. Adeene is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, part of the University of Arizona.
Twitter Google Scholar Instagram
In the press
Science News
Pluto’s heart-shaped basin might not hide an ocean after all - Science News
Pluto Smashed Into Another Planet The Size Of Arizona, Say Scientists - Forbes
Pluto got its ‘heart’ in a violent collision - Earth.com
Astrophysicists solve mystery of heart-shaped feature on the surface of Pluto - Phys.org
How Pluto got its 'heart' - University of Arizona
Chasing Canyons Across the Solar System as Astronomer in Residence - Grand Canyon Conservancy
2023 Pellas-Ryder Award - The Meteoritical Society
Saturn's moon Mimas may be a 'stealth' ocean world - Space.com
Investigations reveal more evidence that Mimas is a stealth ocean world - Phys.org
This physicist hopes to shake up our understanding of space - Science News Explores
Pluto’s dark side spills its secrets — including hints of a hidden ocean - Nature
Did Pluto harbor an ancient subsurface ocean? - Sky and Telescope
Ripples on Pluto hint at subsurface ocean - EarthSky Science
Ancient Seismic Waves Reveal Pluto’s Ocean, Core - AGU Eos
If Pluto has a subsurface ocean, it may be old and deep - Science News
Collision on One Side of Pluto Ripped Up Terrain on the Other, Study Suggests - Scientific American
More Evidence that Pluto Might Have a Subsurface Ocean - Smithsonian Magazine
SGAC Announces the Winners of the National Academies Early Career Program
Dance News
Dancing Across the Solar System as the Grand Canyon’s Astronomer in Residence - Dance Magazine
Site-Specific Space Dance: How astronauts are reinventing movement in microgravity - Dance Magazine
Community Coffee with Adeene Denton - Cosmoquest
Love Dance and Science? Adeene Denton on How They Can Work Together
How NASA failed female astronauts and built space travel for men - Interview for Wired UK
Dancing on Mars: What Elon Musk Can Learn from Dancers - Interview for DanceLab
University of Arizona
Postdoctoral Researcher
Research areas: the role of impacts in shaping the physical evolution of the Kuiper Belt.
Postdoctoral Mentor: Dr. Erik Asphaug
Purdue University
PhD in Planetary Geology
Research areas: formation and evolution of impact basins on Pluto, connections between impact basins on icy satellites and their possibilities as ocean worlds.
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Brandon Johnson
Brown university
MS in Earth, Environmental and Planetary Science
Masters Thesis: Subsurface collapse and denudation of the fretted terrain and the Arabia Terra plateau: Origins and implications for martian dichotomy boundary evolution
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Jim Head
Rice University
BA in History
Co-Founder of Rice Historical Review
BS IN EARTH SCIENCE
Concentration in Geology and Geophysics
Co-founder of Rice Undergraduate Geoscience Society