Rate My Professor Penelope King

Professor Penelope King is a Professor in the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University (ANU), serving as Associate Director for Higher Degree Research students and leader of the Earth Systems Chemistry research group. She held the role of Associate Dean (Research) in the ANU College of Science from 2021 to 2023. King obtained her Ph.D. from Arizona State University in 1999 and her B.Sc. (Honours) from ANU in 1993. Her academic career includes senior research scientist and research professor positions at the Institute of Meteoritics and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico (2007-2011), and tenured associate professor and assistant professor roles in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Western Ontario (1999-2007). She also served as adjunct professor at the Guelph-Waterloo Physics Institute and School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph (2011-2015).

King's research investigates the distribution of volatile species—carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur compounds that favor gaseous states—across planetary bodies. This work elucidates the origins of life, development of planetary atmospheres, formation of ore deposits, and climate regulation through petrology, high- to low-temperature experiments, geochemistry, thermodynamics, field sampling, and innovative analytical methods including synchrotron techniques, micro-analysis, and remote sensing via the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, where she contributed as Science Co-Investigator (2007). She teaches 'The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth Systems Science' (EMSC1006/6107) and supervises PhD and honours students on topics such as mineralogy changes in environments, high-temperature gases in planetary crusts, infrared geothermometry, and meteorite studies. King has earned Fellowships from the Geochemical Society (2023), American Geophysical Union (AGU, 2019), and Mineralogical Society of America (MSA, 2019), the AGU Joanne Simpson Medal for mid-career scientists (2019), Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (2014-2018), Clare Burton Award for Equity and Diversity (2017), Senior Fellow of Advance HE (2017), and NASA Group Achievement Awards to the MSL team (2013, 2015). She served as MSA Distinguished Lecturer (2005), Principal Editor of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry volume 84 (2018), Associate Editor of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2012-2014), and held councilor positions and chairs on fellows and awards committees for AGU, Geochemical Society, MSA, and Mineralogical Association of Canada, alongside advisory roles for NASA, NSF, Australian Academy of Science, and others. She has instigated and led over a dozen international and national conferences.